


20 Dates

by liege



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Universe, F/F, Friends to Lovers, How Do I Tag, Humor, Trees, a little angst i guess, attempt at fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-05-04 09:16:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5328785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liege/pseuds/liege
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra and Asami on their dates (read: sometimes unexpected adventures), inspired by this pic http://9gag.com/gag/a7bgEWz? (because I'm too single to think of any fun date ideas.) Contains humour, a bad attempt at fluff, with a teensy bit of angst sprinkled from time to time.<br/>Well, I'm bad at summaries, so I'll hope you enjoy my first fanfic! </p><p>Specifications on AU will be stated on each chapter</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey people! I've been an avid reader of this fandom for quite a long time, and I finally started writing all my Korrasami feels out after much procrastination. (Seriously, I'm lazier than a panda after its afternoon snack.) This chapter is quite long because I wanted to squeeze in some backstory and my hype of finally expressing my thoughts of this ship, and I apologize if it is too long and if it has too much grammatical errors. For now, enjoy this piece, and throw me any comments, tips or questions!

* * *

First Date: Go on a search for as many good climbing trees as possible, climb as high as you both can in all of them, compile photo evidence

Modern AU  where Asami knew Korra since childhood. No bending, no Avatar.

 

 

            Asami Sato was never really a helpless little girl who cries a lot, nor was she one that demands the best of everything even though she comes from money. Heck, she did not even shed a tear after she accidently took an innocent Future Industries test driver on a 100 miles per hour car ride around the race track when she was 5, which ended in a controlled crash to the side of the track, a large dent on a 6 million dollar prototype sports car, and a weeping engineer that incidently designed said prototype.

            Asami is Hiroshi’s daughter, she is strong-willed and quick minded, and got out of a big scolding by a certain father by pointing out that the torque steering has flaws. Hiroshi was of course, having mixed feelings wondering if his daughter will turn out to be a young mechanical engineering prodigy or a maniac daredevil that jumps out of a helicopter seconds before it explodes and into a 400 metre cliff-dive. (Turns out she became something of both, but that is another story).

       Yet looking at a framed picture of Yasuko Sato, in front of an ornate coffin that is due to be incinerated sent the six-year old Asami into a turmoil. She can’t muster up a smile nor a tear, and the heavy feeling in her heart is alien to her. She simply could not understand how her sweet, kind mother is lying in a wooden box surrounded by people with grim faces, or how her stoic father is reduced to loud sobs and dishevelled clothes. She could not believe that there will be no more songs sang by a soft voice, or a gentle hand brushing her hair, nor stories told under a starry night sky. The Sato matriarch was the life of the family, and to the little Sato girl with the same bottle green eyes as her too. Asami finally broke when the coffin is sent to the incinerator, and a jade urn is passed to her little arms, a burden someone as young as her oughn't carry.

              The Satos buried themselves in various things to fill the void that was the vibrant and cheerful Yasuko. The elder Sato was frequently seen in his office and workshop during the day, and locking himself in the bedroom with a picture of his wife in one hand, and a bottle of whiskey or a cigarette in the other during the nights. The young Sato however, delved deep into her books and focused on making things with her hands. The only way for her to cope with her loss is to create nicer things herself, which she tries to show her father thinking it will cheer him up. Unfortunately, she is always greeted with a sad shake of the head by the secretary, or the sound of glass bottles crashing from his bedroom. Not only has her mother left her, seems that her father is on the way of doing the same too.

               Asami was 9 when she was sitting alone during break time at school as usual, tinkering with a model in her hands. The other kids stayed away from her because she was “weird”, talking about things they did not know and big words they did not understand, whilst the teachers are wary of her because of her father’s influence and power. Asami had long since resigned to a life of loneliness, until a head of chocolate hair, tied in adorable wolftails butted in between the narrow space of Asami’s head and the model. “Watsthat!” resounded from the head, still not budging from its position. Asami was both taken aback by the loud voice and the fact that someone was actively addressing her in this school.

“Erm…. It’s an Arduino robot?” she managed to say, half sure that the girl will not understand her and lose interest.

The head turned and revealed a pair of bright and cheerful blue eyes at Asami. “Wow! Sounds cool! And I don’t even know what’s that!” the ‘head’ replied in an energetic tone.

“Uhhh well… Thank you?” Asami slid further down the bench, and away from the wolftail-ed head, to reveal a fairly chubby girl dressed in blue and wearing leather moccasins. The chubby girl must had been sitting really close to her.

“I’m Korra! And you must be Asami! Nice to meet you! I’m sure we will be very good friends once I invite you over to my house, and we’ll get to build a snowman and chase Naga around, she’s my dog you know, and throw snowballs at the police standing at the school gate, or pull my dad’s beard or….” Korra took an exaggerated breath. Asami took advantage of the lull to ask a lingering question after the deluge of words being thrown at her.

“Oh. Korra. Hello, but how did you know my name?”

“I am new, ‘cuz I got moved here from the Southern Water Tribe. And I’m so excited to be here to make good friends and to kick bullies and learn how to use a protractor but my mom ask me to behave in school but of course I didn’t listen because if I did years ago I would never have found Naga! “ Korra replied enthusiastically, still not quite answering Asami’s question. “ Then it was break time and I overheard a few kids mentioning your name and pointing to you and saying bad things about you, something about you eating too much broccoli then having green eyes and teeth so you don’t talk much and you’re weird because you actually eat broccoli. So I came over to see you for myself, and I just want to say that your eyes do NOT look like broccoli, and you look like a fun person to be with!” Korra ended her sentence with a beam.

Asami was at a loss for words. Nobody has ever spoken in so many words to her before, much less with the same energy that Korra had. She feels overwhelmed, and she started to tear up. A surprisingly warm pair of arms curled around her, and her face was thrust into the warm material of the blue-eyed girl’s navy parka.

“I’m so, so sorry that I made you cry! If it makes you feel any better, I did kick those broccoli bullies!”

Asami lifted her head and gave her a watery grin. “Well you did not have to do that, and we don’t learn protractors until the next few years”

Korra released Asami, and tugged at the wolftails that were on the both sides of her face. “I KNEW dad made that up to make me interested!”  She looked around and saw the angry headmaster, with a cane at his side and three crying boys behind him, one sporting a fairly large bruise on his shin, and a missing front tooth on another.

“I think Mr. Yao is looking for me.” Korra shrugged and leapt off the bench. “Hey, why not you follow me home after school and I teach you how to climb the tree in my yard? Is it a yes or is it an absolutely?”

Asami only smiled in agreement, while watching Korra striding purposefully towards the headmaster.

*****************************************************************************************

            “C’mon slowpoke! Or is your SatoLegs unable to keep up with me?” Korra shouted while dashing up the hill, kicking the brown leaves and creating a shower that splattered the raven-haired woman behind her.

            “That’s not what you said when waking up this morning!”  Asami shot back. “You were all like: Speereeeeets Ahsahmeeeee….!!! The Sun is too bright and the covers are so comfy! Please give me about 6 more hours to catch up on my beauty sleep?” Asami said in a drawly and deep voice, with a hand on her forehead while clutching her chest. She was rudely interrupted by a spray of leaves to her head.

            “Well, guess the leaves left you unMAPLE to speak!” Korra laughed at her own horribly lame joke. She must have gotten the trait from her father. “Besides, I did invite you to join me.”

            “You’re a liar. There weren’t even any covers on your bed. Sleeping in such a cold autumn without a blanket? You must be part robot or something” Asami huffed while racing to catch up with Korra, who seem to be flying through the forest.

            “Oh, _moi_? Called a robot by Miss ‘Go-away-Kor-I-have-arms-to-design-and-coffee-to-ingest!? I guess that I am entitled to a medal or something! Besides, It’s not that cold anyway, and you get cold just by touching a Frappuccino.”

            Before Asami could smart-ass something out, she was caught by how beautiful Korra looked running to the hilltop and dodging trees. The ombre rays from the sunset reflected on Korra’s sheen of sweat, and the running accentuates the muscles of her thighs. Korra joined both the track team and the basketball team when they entered high school, quickly growing from the cute, chubby girl to the muscular star athlete of Republic City High. Asami also remembered how she was at Korra’s every track meet cheering her on, and being the unstoppable duo when both of them were playing for the basketball team, and how Korra asked her to be her girlfriend after they won the national finals amidst the cheering crowd.

             Sometimes, Asami could not help but wonder how she was lucky enough to meet someone as wonderful as Korra.

             “Almost there, Asami Honey!” Korra shouted when she spotted a few tall trees in the distance. Instead of those terms of endearment that make Korra cringe, she likes to rhyme Asami’s name to make Asami cringe instead. It achieved the desired effect, but Korra remembered to not take it too far. She once called her girlfriend “Asami Pepperoni” when there was a zit on said girlfriend’s otherwise flawless skin, and she got a demonstration of Asami’s Muay Thai and Krav Maga moves. Korra could still feel the bruise on her side, and that made Tonraq, Korra’s father, the fearsome Chief of the Southern Water Tribe slightly afraid of his daughter’s choice.

The cool air against Asami’s face and hair is delightful, more so with favourable company. She followed the sound of leaves crunching and inhaled the scent from the apple trees. Running is exhilarating for her. She feels sweat running down her neck, legs and arms spread in tandem, her backpack gently knocking against her back. It is as if she is free from all problems, and her only focus is the cool wind cooling her body, the sun kissing her skin and the road ahead. It is also meditative as she hears every bird chirping and singing their praises, the crisp laugh of her girlfriend, and the way her shoes kick up the leaves and dirt while she is graced with the view of the ombre sky and a slither of a lake near the foot of the hill.

Asami finally caught up with Korra, and they were soon jogging side-by-side, avoiding tree roots with familiarity that came from years of sneaking out. Korra smiled at Asami with her trademark razzle-dazzles (that’s the only thing Asami could think of while looking at that smile), signifying she is thrilled from the run too.

“There! It has grown so tall!” Korra pointed at a fairly tall tree planted on a patch of grass, singling the tree out from the rest of the forest. Both of them stopped at the same time under the tree. Korra raised her arms in victory, then flexed her biceps while making kissy noises at her girlfriend. Asami laughed and pulled a picnic blanket from Korra’s backpack, making her stop her ridiculous victory dance that evolved to twerking.

The girls spread the worn picnic blanket under the tree, and collapsed on it, sweating and panting with smiles on their faces. They intertwined their hands while enjoying the relative silence. The last of the sun rays streamed through the thicket of tree leaves above them, while some crickets start to call, signalling the approaching nightfall. Korra sensed the girl beside her bristling in the cold, and she automatically wrapped herself around the girl. Asami snuggled further into Korra’s chest and tangled their legs together.

“We haven’t been here in years.” Korra whispered, breaking the silence.

Asami brushed away Korra’s chocolate bangs from her face, staring at her girl’s warm blue eyes. “I think it’s nearing 3 years? It’s been to long since our last visit.” She gently sat Korra up against the tree, while they admired the red fruits hanging from its branches.

“Yeah. It’s been so long.” Korra breathed, a wave of nostalgia hitting her.

******************************************************************************************************

Korra and Asami remained steadfast friends even when they reach their teenage years. It almost changed when Asami was accepted into Republic High months before her finals. Admissions for Republic High were automatically open to students with good grades. While Asami was eligible for that, Korra was falling slightly behind in terms of grades. Determined to stay with her best friend, Korra turned to her books in the last few months before her finals. Asami remembered the days she spent more in Korra’s home than her own revising with her. Even Korra’s parents were shocked that their normally hyperactive daughter can sit still for more than 5 minutes. All with a book in front of her. Korra was concerned that her friend could be sacrificing a lot just to help her, but Asami was more than content to stay with her. Her father is still not out of his funk, and the enormous mansion simply did not feel like home to her anymore. She liked the gentleness and patience of Korra’s mother, Senna, that resembled Yasuko, and the strong and lumbering Tonraq, who warmed to Asami immediately. Soon, they accepted her as one of their own.

Korra jokes that her parents love Asami more sometimes, and her parents jokingly admitted it. Korra would not mind if it is true anyway, because it always puts a smile on Asami’s face, and she is willing to share her family to compensate for Asami’s broken one.

After a year in high school, Asami feels much better than she did years ago. No longer was she the loner that tinkers with weird stuff on a snowy stone bench, she has grown into a beautiful and smart fifteen-year old, and a confidence to match, thanks to Korra who got in the school with her. Together, they created a storm. Asami with her stellar grades, and Korra with her bold athletisicm. Even though they have curricular activities and the circle of friends that comes with it, they never strayed away from each other.

Ever since the fateful day Korra met Asami and taught her all the tree-climbing skills she knew, they celebrated their friendship by….. climbing trees. It was weird when mentioned to others, but to them, it was perfectly normal. Asami’s driver was very shocked when he found the normally poised lady of the Sato house stomping her feet while roaring on a rickety treehouse, with her sleeves rolled up, scratches on her arms and lines of dirt on her face. Even more frightening was the wild blue-eyed girl climbing up the tree after Asami with her tied hair loose and flowing, laughing at a huge white dog underneath the tree, then sweeping the Sato girl up in a big bear hug.

When Asami was to be brought home and lectured on hygiene, Korra puffed up her chest and stated that the driver has to learn that girls need to play too and he needs to deal with it.

They were fifteen when they found the hill which will soon be their special place, when they were supposed to follow on a school trip to some temple. It was led by Mr. Tenzin, the history teacher. Korra concluded that the trip will be as boring as his classes and dragged Asami out when the bus stopped for a refuel.

The problem started when the bus left, and they were in the middle of nowhere. Asami could not expect any better from Korra, to be frank. That girl has been known to do something first then think about it. Luckily Korra wasn’t building robots like her or she would have created Terminators or something.

Cue Korra with her puppy dog eyes looking at Asami for help.

Sighing, Asami pulled out her phone and asked her driver for a car, which arrived 20 minutes later. They jumped on the car and ‘accidently’ forgot the driver, Jin at a petrol station and drove off. Korra looked worriedly at Asami, and asked whether or not she can drive. Asami shot her a glare so deadly Korra swore a few cells in her retina died off instantly, she was then thrown back in her seat when the car sped off.

They were enjoying the wind in their hair and listening to the Jin’s mix of horrible cheesy songs on the CD player. “No wonder Jin is single. He probably scared off the ladies when they listened to his mix tape.” Korra laughed, stretching her arms luxuriously. The top of the Koenigsegg Regera was down, and Korra was perched on the leather seat enjoying the wind in her hair. She was sorely tempted to stick her tongue out like how her dog, Naga, would do when it sit on cars.

“Say Korra, where are we heading to actually?” Asami, ever the level-headed one, spouted out.

“Erm… I dunno. Just drive, I guess?”

“Wait, what? So you pulled me out of the bus, risked us being stuck in the middle of nowhere, stuck Jin _in_ the middle of nowhere, and you don’t have a destination in mind.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Korra shrugged and plopped down on her seat. She could feel Asami fuming quietly.

“I think this is a new high score I have to record in the book of ‘Top Irresponsible Things That Korra Did’.”

“Wow, I’m flattered that you keep such close tabs on me, Asami. What could a girl like me do with such attention?” Korra leaned over to the driver seat with her hands over her heart. She smiled when Asami’s anger began to fade, and an amused grin appearing slightly.

“Get your boobs off the gear stick, Korra, you’re crushing my hand.” Asami grumbled. “And I’m serious, Korra, you should think more about your actions and be responsible.”

“You’re the one to speak. I’m not the fifteen-year old without a driving license on a 4 million dollar sports car driving a hundred miles per hour down the road with her equally irresponsible friend.”

“Hey, without me, your sorry ass would still be at the petrol station.”

“What about that? I could always devise a way to get myself out.”

“Like what?”

“I dunno, call a taxi? Make out with Jin so he would pay for said taxi?”

“Disgusting, Korra. Besides, you’ll suffer the wrath of Jin’s select songs for the rest of your life.”

“Awww…. Is little Asami jealous?”

“Screw you, Korra.” Asami’s grip tightened on the wheel, and she hopes Korra does not spot the blush growing on her pale cheeks.

“Whatever. You still love me.” Korra slung her arm over her friend’s shoulders, then tapping her foot to the rhythm of the song.

“Anyways, I noticed you being very down lately, so I wanted to take your mind off it.” Korra said, her tone serious.

Asami was surprised. Nothing gets past Korra. It is as though she could read her like an open book.

“Is it Iroh?”

Spot on. Having someone understand her this much is gratifying, but it means no secrets can be kept too.

“Yeah, and it’s my dad too.”

“What happened? Do you want to talk about it?”

Asami loved this side of Korra. Always so sensitive towards her, even though she could be such a brash girl sometimes. Even her now ex-boyfriend, Iroh, could not understand her like Korra does. Everyone seems to be over protective, or overbearing when it comes to her, like she is a fragile glass statue, or like her father which is the complete opposite. She realised that she hadn’t spoken or seen him in months.

She shook her head no, and she could feel tears burning under her eyelids. Asami pulled up the car by the roadside, then stared blankly at the steering wheel. Korra sat there silently with her, holding her hand, not expecting anything.

“It’s dad. It’s him. It’s always him.” Asami started, her eyes starting to well. She has kept this incident buried in the back of her mind for a few months now, since she can’t meet up with Korra often enough to vent, with Iroh taking her out on those pointless dates. She tries to build a coherent sentence in her mind, to express the deluge of information she was aching to spill to her best friend, but she just couldn’t.

            Korra’s arms were around her in an instant, while Asami broke down. She knew that she does not need to try with Korra. Korra would wait until it is the right time for Asami to spill it.

            “Hey, look at that hill! Looks interesting.” Korra spoke up, pointing at a path in the foot of hill they pulled up by. The hill was covered in apple trees, with a lush carpet of grass, and a slight trekking path snaking its way deeper in the apple forest. “Wanna take a look?” Korra jumped out of the car, and held her hand out to Asami.

            Asami took it graciously, and they ran up the trail.

            It was the dynamic of their friendship. Korra would get in little troubles, then Asami would step in to help her, and when Asami has problems, Korra would lend her an understanding ear, or whisk her away to some impromptu adventure to take Asami’s mind off things.

            “I wish it could be more than a friendship.” Asami whispered.

            “Sorry?”

            Asami jolted, and a raging blush covered her cheeks. “Oh! N..n..n..o! I’m just saying that it’s such a nice weather today. Woaaaaah.” Asami blinked away her tears, then swinging her arms around exaggeratedly.

            Korra looked at her with raised eyebrows and a pout. “Bullshit, Sato. That joke is what old people say, and you’ll tell me when your PMS strikes anyway.”

            “Yeah, yeah, Korra, I woke up and felt a little osteoporosis. I’m getting reaaaaally old.” Asami moaned, limping over to her then collapsed theatrically on the lush grass.

            “Fine, lie there, Sleeping Beauty. I just spotted something interesting” Korra said, pulling her still moaning friend up.

            “What? Is it a mountain of chocolate cake? Or a river inhabited by pretty mermaids?” Asami asked disinterestedly.

            “Something better than that. And you wouldn’t be interested if it wasn’t a hex wrench or a box of dildos anyway.” Korra snickered, then sped off.

            “HEY! The dildos are a low blow!” Asami blushed furiously, then chased after her laughing friend. She was pranked by her robotics club friends on her fourteenth birthday, and it served as Korra’s joke material ever since.

            What they found though, was better than any hex wrench (or box of dildos. [Shut up, Korra!]) Asami has ever seen.

            It was…..

            A lake.

            Not just any lake, Asami could see that it was off the beaten path, and it nestles in the ravine, obscured by the hill so people couldn’t see it from the road they just drove in. The way the sunlight bounces off it was breath taking. She spotted some lily pads and a family of herons by the lake. Its waters are pure blue, and its size is rather small, but Asami grew fond of it instantly. It reminded her of the lake in the park where Yasuko takes her to every other week. _Maybe it could be our own place someday_ , Asami thought silently, thinking about her best friend beside her.

            She was broken out of her reverie by Korra’s shout.

            “OH MY GOODNESS! IS THAT TINY STORK HUMPING THAT ROCK?!”

            “What? No!” Too late. Asami turned to the direction Korra was pointing. The innocent herons continued washing themselves, merely tolerating the two idiot humans pointing and shouting at them.

            Korra was already on the ground laughing and rolling. If you looked closely, she isn’t one of the woodland animals that made its home in the forest, she is actually a human which is the best friend of one annoyed Asami Sato.

            “AHAHAH, your expression is SOLID GOLD!” Korra wiped a tear off, her shirt stained with mud from rolling on the ground.

“Urgh. It isn’t a tiny stork, Korra. It’s a heron.”

“Whatever. I made you look.” Korra replied smugly. “C’mon, I can take you somewhere with a better view of the lake.” She took Asami’s hand again, much to the delight of Asami, who doesn’t want to show it but did, and trudged up the peak of the small hill. They avoided the little outcrops of rocks and the protruding tree roots along the path, with Korra in front jumping over them, and laughing at Asami’s red face.

Luckily for them, they were two fit and spry girls, because Asami thinks that they just travelled a thousand miles before reaching the peak. Korra let out a loud whoop, then landed on the grass with a backflip. Asami inspected the apple trees, and picked an apple out. She threw said apple to Korra, and the apple landed on Korra’s stomach.

“Oof, Asami, that hurts.” Korra picked up the apple and examined it closely. “You hungry?” She asked.

“A little, but I don’t know if the apples are safe to eat.”

“Well you’re in luck, because I’m so hungry I would eat the whole tree.”

Before Asami could protest, Korra sunk her teeth into the apple.

“See? Safe.”

“Yeah. For the next 5 minutes. How do you know it isn’t poisoned or something?”

“I KNEW IT! Asami Sato, you aren’t the Sleeping Beauty after all! You’re that evil witch lady out to poison pretty girls like me with your nasty apples!”

“Oh, and I’m supposed to believe that you’re some kind of Snow White?” Asami snickered. The sight of Korra with a leg propped up on the other, a muscular arm behind her head, chomping loudly on the fruit with its juices flowing freely down her chin is a far cry of what a princess form a land far, far away should be.

“Yes. And you are welcome to be Dopey, my humble dwarf because that’s what you look like with the box of dildos.”

Shaking her head, Asami picked another apple from the tree and laid down adjacent to Korra, with only their heads next to each other. The apples are surprisingly crunchy and sweet, and they munched on it while watching some herons fly across the sky.

After finishing her apple, Korra leapt up and began scaling the tree nearest to her. “C’mon, Scaredy ‘Sami! Time to climb the tree!” Korra shouted with a knowing grin, hanging off a strong tree branch upside down, her hair capping her sweaty face.

Asami smirked and got up immediately. Korra said that many years ago when teaching Asami in her yard. Only that Korra is already on the tree and Asami was near peeing her pants. Asami wiped the juice from her mouth, and did a leap towards a tree next to Korra’s, all while still chewing with her mouth full, a determined look on her face.

“We’ll see who can climb the highest in most trees!”

“You’re on! Take pictures!”

Korra stuck out her tongue, and easily heaved herself up the multitude of branches. Asami wasn’t going to go down easily. She scaled the tree trunk, then jumped off it and grabbed onto the nearest branch with surprising agility. That move made Korra almost fall down in shock.

“Don’t fall down for me, Korra!” Asami laughed while looking for another branch. Truthfully, she had been spending lots of time in the gym doing salmon ladders, and when asked, she lied that it was to improve her basketball skills. They would never believe that she wants to climb trees faster anyway.

“Would never dream of it, ma’am!” Korra has a few tricks up her sleeves too. She swung around the branch and caught another branch between her knees, then spun around the branch and ended up with her butt on the other branch. Damn. Asami has forgotten that despite Korra’s usual lumbering gait, she can be really agile if she wants to. And those abs on her help too. Wow… Asami was staring. Again.

“Hellooo…….. Tree to Asami? Are you there?”

Asami snapped from her trance, then quickly scaled up the tree trunk. After more ridiculous acrobatics, they reached the top of their respective trees. Asami took out her phone, and took a sweeping panaroma of the sunset. Out of the corner of the eye, she saw Korra with her back towards her, doing a pinching motion towards Asami’s face while taking a selfie. Asami took a picture of Korra’s butt, and the flash from her camera notified Korra.

“Hey! I saw that!” Korra relented by taking a picture of Asami sitting on the branch with her legs clutching tightly on either side of the wood.

“Now the caption for this will be: Asami Sato, honours student and all-round good munchkin, found climbing a tree and humping its branches!” Korra announced in a deep voice to resemble a radio announcer.

“What’s up with you and humping anyways?” Asami showed Korra the picture of her butt. “Newsflash! Newsflash! Star athlete Korra caught in incriminating positions with a tree! Could Korra secretly be an anthomaniac?! Juicy details inside!”

Both of them shared a hearty laugh, and continued snapping pictures of each other and themselves poking fun at stuff.

“Hey, I think I’m going to come over.”

“What? No! Our trees are miles apart!” Asami exclaimed.

“I can see two branches near each other. I can do this.” Korra climbed down, putting a cautious foot after another, finally reaching the branch.

Asami knew that it is futile to stop Korra when she sets her mind to something.

A few months ago when Korra won her track meet, she wanted to celebrate by rushing out of the stadium immediately and going to a McDonald’s to stuff her face with 5 cheeseburgers. Naturally, the principal stopped her so she could give an interview, get her medals, bring honour to the school and blah blah blah, but Korra was relentless. Even when the principal assigned the rugby team to hold her back, Korra managed to barrel past the fullback, then vault over the wall to reach the holy grail of burgers.

“Just be careful, okay?”

“Yes mooooom” Korra drawled, hanging upside down and edging towards Asami’s branch like a sloth towards its breakfast.

“Well, if you fall down, don’t come running to me.” Asami joked, trying to lighten up the mood. Truthfully, she is sweating so much she needs to eat 5 cheeseburgers to replenish the salts lost.

_What if Korra really falls down? It will surely break her back! Then she can’t play for the team anymore! Then I have to stay at the hospital with her because she will try to escape after 3 days! Well… I get to spend more time with her, so I suppose that’s… No! Asami! God, No! She’s your friend! How could you do that! I know you did try to make her sick once so both of you can call in sick for school but that’s too much!_

When Asami finally realized that she might be over-attached to her friend, and possibly a very, very sick person, the branch in front of her gave a loud snapping sound, and she found Korra hanging on the end of it, a few wood fibres tethering her to the tree. Asami leapt from her perch and grabbed Korra’s arm, trying to pull her up.

“GOSH KORRA! I TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFUL!” Asami heaved, _why is she so heavy?_

“Lecture me later! I’m on the precipice of death here!” Korra whined, with her legs flailing.

Asami started to tear up. She feels her strength waning from her arms, and the slickness between her palms and Korra’s arms were not helping. _I can’t let go I can’t let go._ So, she decided it is time for her ultimate confession.

“K-k-k-orra… Remember when we were 10? And you fell sick?”

“Yes, Asami, but if you don’t pull harder I might fall into something worse! Like a coma!”

“It was me! Korra, It was me!”

“What?!” Between her imminent death and her best friend, who was also her lifeline, currently acting up, Korra actually feels scared.

“I was having a fever and I had to stay at home for weeks and I couldn’t see you for at school? Remember that?”

“YEAH! WHAT ABOUT IT?” Korra is really afraid right now.

“Iputsomemilkintoyoursoybeandrink”

“What?”

“Iputmilkinyoursoybeandrinksoyoucouldbesickwithme”

“WHAT? SPEAK SLOWER, AND OMG ASAMI I THINK MY FEET IS CLOSER TO THE GROUND”

“I MADE YOU DRINK SOME MILK SO YOU COULD BE SICK WITH ME DURING THAT TIME!”

The angry confession gave Asami a burst of strength, and she heaved a sweating Korra up the branch with her. Korra toppled on top of her, her breath hot against Asami’s neck. Poor Asami was equally turned on and embarrassed.

“Whew, Asami, didn’t know you had it in you.” Korra rolled off her and sat on another branch, much to Asami’s relief.

Before Asami could open her mouth to explain herself, Korra stopped her.

“Hey, let me catch a breath. Almost died there.” Korra panted, smiling at the flustered Asami.

“And….. I know.”

Asami was taken aback. Not only did Korra not blame her, she seems to be taking it in a stride. And how did Korra know! She knew that her suspicions about Korra reading her diary is true. She knew it!

“Relax. As smart as you are, milk tastes very differently than soy bean, and I knew instantly it was you.” Korra swatted a bug flying in circles around her head.

Oh. She didn’t read the diary. Asami would kill before exposing her secret drawings of her and Korra riding a white steed into the sunset on her diary.

“Buuuut… I knew you were lonely in your room, so I bought a carton of milk, drank it, and buried it in a hole at Mr. Wen’s vegetable patch. Although I think that throwing it in a rubbish bin is better.”

Korra conveniently fell sick after Asami that day, and the two shared the same sickbed, albeit Asami feeling a little guilty.

“Wow… Korra… I do not know what to say…” Asami is going to tear up again. She is thinking about getting her tear ducts checked whenever she’s around Korra.

“Hey, we’re the bestest buddies of all time! I’ll gladly drink any amount of milk for you!” Korra smiled, punching  Asami’s shoulder.

The two friends sat with their backs on the tree trunk, exchanging stories, swatting at random bugs, laughing at things only they understand. On a tall tree, they have a world of their own above the ground, where they get first dibs on the view of the horizon or the first rays of daybreak. It was ethereal. Asami soon forgot her problems with her father.

That could wait.

As the sun set, and the night sky is decorated with stars, they decided they should head back before Tonraq dispatches an army to look for both of them.

“Oh no. It’s so dark! How on earth are we supposed to find our way back? And our phones are out!” This time, even the brilliant Asami Sato can’t save them.

“Chillax, sister. I’m not irresponsible all the time.” Korra smiled, and produced a flashlight she nicked from the Koenisegg.

“GOODNESS KORRA I COULD KISS YOU RIGHT NOW!”

“That… can wait. But first, how do we get down?”

*****************************************************************************************

            Both women laughed at the memory. The tree they are sitting under right now is planted right after both of them got down from the tree. It wasn’t planted on purpose, actually. Korra did a celebratory backflip and her apple core fell from her pocket and into some mud, and they found a sapling growing in the same spot a few months later. Asami didn’t know apple trees were that resilient.

            They did come back regularly to check on their tree and to climb some, but luckily with less drama than they did when they first attempted it.

            The couple enjoyed a quiet evening with some wine and Asami’s favourite desserts, with the scent of apples enveloping them, and the divine view of the Humping Stork Lake (not the official name, of course).

            Here Korra was, sipping some wine that probably costs more than her rent, and eating a sandwich with the world’s most beautiful and smartest woman. 10 years ago, she would have imagined her future very differently. She could be off somewhere in the other half of the hemisphere from Asami in a track competition, living the bachelorette life with Naga. Maybe Asami would settle down with a handsome and rich man her age, and living the life as one of the world’s richest and most powerful women. Maybe, if Korra hadn’t studied 13 hours a day for her finals and somehow ended in a different school, or if Opal, her team mate hadn’t slap (literally) some sense into her, she might’ve never gotten the girl.

            “Hey, you okay?” Asami asked, stroking Korra’s tan cheek affectionately. She noticed the subtle changes of Korra’s zealous expression to a more sombre one, so either she is deep in thought or she is worrying about something.

            “Um n-n-othing, no really. It’s nothing.” Korra stuttered when Asami started braiding her hair loosely. She took is as a silent gesture from Asami to keep talking.

            After a beat, Korra began:”I’m just wondering how slim my chances are to get together with you. I mean, look at who I am! I’m just a dumb jock that can’t think out of her running shoes and her Molten basketball. I’m pretty sure I knew the multiplication table only because of you. And… and you’re just so perfect. The complete package. You’re smart, you’re beautiful, you’re strong willed and determined. You could have anything and everything you want in the world!”

            Asami sat straight with a concerned look on her face, letting go of Korra’s hair. She understood how important is it for Korra to vent. She seldom expresses her true feelings like that, and normally shows affection by cheesy jokes and warm cuddles.

            “And… I wonder, what if I’m simply not enough for you?”

            That did it. Asami caught Korra’s lips in a ferocious kiss. It wasn’t the usual playful tongue gymnastics they do. Oh no. This is Asami Sato asserting her girlfriend that she, indeed, is the ONE. The kiss lasted a full minute, and the Sato girl pulled up, wiping the edge of her lip with a sly smirk. She looked upon the breathless Korra, still red-faced and panting.

            “Korra. I just want you to know that all your insecurities whatsoever are pointless. I knew you since we were 9 and the years after that are the happiest of my life.”

            Korra opened her mouth to interject, but Asami shot her the SatoGlareTM.

            “I lost my mother, and sort of lost my father after that too. After all of that, I gave up on socializing. What’s the point if everyone is going to leave me anyway?”

            Korra’s eyes glazed over, then she hugged Asami while stroking her dark hair. This matter lingered on Korra’s mind for a long time, but now is the time she got some closure.

            “But I met you. You burst into my life like some hurricane, and you gave me hope once more. All that ‘smart, beautiful determined’ woman things that you said? She would never have existed without you. And no one has ever come as close as you when understanding me.” Asami finished, wiping her nose on Korra’s shirt sleeve.

            “And DON’T you ever think that way anymore. You’re not just some dumb jock, and you know that.” She tweaked the tan woman’s nose, then snuggled against her chest, gazing at the moon.

            Korra was silent. But she knew that Asami was right.

            “Look at us, talking about all these cheesy and mushy feelings.” Korra sniffled. “But you’re right, I guess I should talk to you about these things more. Mushy or not.”

            “I have to admit, but when you said that you drank a carton of milk for me last time, I’m pretty much sold.”

            “Damn! I must scour the nation’s supermarkets for rogue cartons of milk so my girlfriend would not abscond somewhere!”

            “All hail Korra, the Provocative Tree-Humper turned Confiscator of Milk Cartons.”

            “I do what I do.”

            “And Korra?”

            “Hmm?”

            “Remember that time when we were on the tree and I said I could kiss you right now?”

            “Mmmm… Not really.”

            “Seriously Korra.”

            “My mind’s a little foggy, maybe that promised kiss can clear it up?”

            “Dork.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that it isn't really a date, but both of them do have a mutual attraction, and the whole setup is romantic enough so...... Why not? (GAAAAH GET TO THE POINT YOU LAZY %@#$)  
> Anyways,  
> \- Korra is lactose intolerant  
> -some apple trees bear fruit after 6 years  
> -old apple trees are quite tall,  
> -wild apples are actually bitter AF  
> -no, Asami is not mentally unstable whatsoever  
> -and PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB TREES IT'S QUITE DANGEROUS  
> I apologize if anything in the content is offensive, all characters belong to Nickelodeon.  
> (Except for Jin. He's still chilling in the petrol station with his crappy music.)  
> Please leave some comments and thoughts! :P


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Canon Universe, with bending and an Avatar.
> 
> Avatar Korra battles with one last lingering doubt, and is off spending a blessed day with Asami.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with another one! I'm sorry this one is extremely lackluster and frazzled, it comes with trying to write in the middle of the night. :P  
> And I know that I'm only supposed to write only about the date itself, but heyyyy I like words.

2nd: Go to a chain bookstore, and leave notes for future readers in your favorite books.

**Back to the Canon Universe, with bending and an Avatar. Post Book 4.**

 

            Soft breezes graced the gazebo on a mountain top with its cooling embrace, flickering several torches lit within it, and messing up the ‘do of the gazebo’s occupant. Avatar Korra sat in a lotus position in the wooden gazebo built by the air acolytes. The gazebo overlooks snow-tipped mountain ranges, a storm raging at a far distance, and small villages built at the foot of each mountain, smoke from its fires entangling the evening fog from the mountain. It is a surreal sight, and the gazebo was also a choice meditation spot for the late Avatar Aang.

            There’s a lit fire pit in the middle of the gazebo, wind passing through the various cracks of the wooden floor, and the gazebo is built next to a crisp water spring, situated on Mount Xin Quang. Connection to all four elements, Korra mused, perfect place for an Avatar. She is away from Republic City for a month now, temporarily residing in the Fire Nation to decide on the Earth Nation’s current leadership. She doesn’t offer much input, per se, but acted as a mediator between the annoyed Fire Lord Izumi, the reluctant Suyin Beifong, and Wu, who keeps giving nonsensical ideas.

Not that Wu is incompetent though. His idea of forming a democratic cabinet system, with the members elected from each Earth district is good, but he insists on having a badgermole joining the Dai Li forces (what? Badgermoles ARE part of our culture!). Not to mention the former Earth Kingdom’s financial problem too. Kuvira’s army served as the only governing system, and it merely put a stop to bandit attacks and raids. The people reverted to farming and bartering as their way of life, filling a quota of farm produce as ‘tribute’ to Kuvira’s army. Even the modern industries and businesses that the former Earth Kingdom had was reduced to small operations.  The Fire Nation is looking to solve their economic crisis, while the Metal Clan is tasked with modernizing their infrastructure, with Zaofu as the example.

That led to Korra almost pulling her hair out every day in frustration. She is no politician. The things that they taught in the compound are the bending forms and normal Water Tribe schooling. Economics, legislations and governing systems almost made no sense to her. She sorely wished Asami was here, at least she will know something.

That’s why Korra visited the gazebo almost every evening for some meditation. The spiritual energies are quite strong there, and she is still attempting to connect with her past lives. The recent breakthrough she had was hearing Yang Chen’s voice roaring “Funnel Cakes!”, whatever that meant.

Tonight was the same as any other. Her fists were joined, and her breathing methodical. Sometimes, Ravaa would appear for a short chat, or random disembodied voices of past avatars will appear in her mind. Korra wonders if she has failed all of the avatars before her. The avatar cycle is present for ten thousand years, and acted as a conduit for Ravaa to bring peace and balance to the world. The avatar is wise not only because of the spirit that resides within it, but also for having the ability to seek council from their past lives. Even Aang called on multiple past lives to seek advice to do his job, except for the instance where Kyoshi almost got him fried in hot oil.

The Avatar is never alone. But Korra is. The next Avatar would only have her as guidance, and she didn’t know if she could be up for the job. She imagined her giving bad advice like” just punch him in the face!” or “ask them to deal with it” or “pop into the avatar state so you could outrun them!”. Korra chuckled at that notion.

“ _No, Korra, you’re never alone.”_

“Oh heyyy Ravaa! Nice of you to pop in.”

“ _I sensed your inner turmoil again, Korra_.”

“Yeah… I’m kinda having a bad day. Again.”

“ _I understand that you are upset in losing your connections to your past life, but there are many who support you. Without your sacrifice, the Avatar cycle will cease to be, and the world will be plunged into a millennia of darkness. Being the Avatar is a heavy burden, but it is not yours alone to carry.”_

With that, Ravaa’s presence in her mind diminished. She wasn't a fan of long conversations. A tear streaked down Korra’s face. Yes, she isn’t alone. She has the entire air nation and metal clan backing her, her Team Avatar, and most importantly, Asami.

“Thank you, Ravaa.”

*********************************************************************************************************

            An airship proudly bearing the Future Industries’ golden half gear on its side approaches Republic City in the middle of the night. The impatient Avatar riding in it jumped out of an open window with her air glider, much to the dismay of the crew on board. She was the sole passenger of the airship, and the crew expected a handshake or a pat on the back by the mighty Avatar when she alights. Korra was supposed to leave the next day, but she asked (forced) the crew to set an early departure, immediately after her final meeting in the Fire Nation capital.

            The few people who remained on the pavements waved at cheered at Korra when they saw her whizzing past the various tall buildings, giving her a warm welcome back to the city. Republic City is a city that never sleeps, but Korra knows someone that is.

            “Come on…. Come on… Just a little bit more…” Korra coaxed the air around her. She could spot the tall building where their apartment is in the distance. _Their own apartment_. Thinking about that made Korra smile, and narrowly missing a flying crow-sparrow. Years ago, she could never have imagined her former love rival will _be_ her love instead. And now, here they are, with their own place.

            Korra landed as softly as she can on the narrow window ledge, nimbly balancing herself on it while metal bending open the latch of the window. With a gentle woosh of air, she threw herself inside and cushioned her fall with a silent roll on a carpet.

            There she is. The raven-haired woman was in their bed, clutching Korra’s pillow while being sound asleep. Korra admired Asami for a while, then wasted no time in entering the covers and spooning her from behind.

            “Mhhnngg.. Wha..aa.t? Wh..o.o?”

            Suddenly, there’s a death grip on Korra’s wrist, and she was instantly straddled by a now-awake Asami Sato.

            “Oh! KORRA! YOU’RE BACK!” Asami realized that it is her girlfriend, loosened her grip, and enveloped Korra’s lips in a deep kiss. Korra returned the kiss graciously, threading her fingers through Asami’s silky locks.

            “I thought that you are due to come back tomorrow! I missed you so, so, much!” Asami exclaimed when they pulled up for air. They resumed their tight hold on each other. “I thought of waiting for you at the port and drawing a rose petal bath for you or something.”

            “Sounds awesome. Maybe I’ll go out and come back the next morning.”

            “Don’t you dare!”

            Asami released Korra for a moment, kneeling on the bed with her knees spread, green eyes glinting with mischief. Korra gulped, her back against the head board. She knew that look. Even in the dark, Asami looks and smells like a goddess.

            “I’ve missed you so much, Kor,” Asami purred, her hands unbuttoning her long night shirt slowly.

            “A month is simply too long for us to be apart, don’t you think so?” Asami crawled over to Korra, pushing her exposed chest towards Korra’s face.

            “Uhm… uh… yeah… totally! I missed you a lot too!” Korra was torn between looking at her eyes and inside her open shirt.

            “Then show me.” Asami nibbled Korra’s earlobe, hands already untying Korra’s sash.

*********************************************************************************************************

            Asami was very late for work the next day. The company could erupt in chaos upon knowing their very punctual CEO is late for one day. Asami came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body and supported by her breasts, smiling softly at the sight on the bed. Korra was sleeping face down, her strong back exposed and lightly flexing in time with her breathing.

            _It’s aaaa knockout!_ Asami thought in Shiro Shinobi’s voice, thinking about their activities last night. Asami was tempted to wake Korra up for a morning tryst.

_Just a little bit...? The factory wouldn’t catch on fire or anything. Yes, it’s that one time, but definitely not this time! Urrrgghh…! Okay fine. You deserved this, Sato._

She dropped her towel and sauntered over to Korra, her breath ghosting over her lover’s neck while she tucked Korra’s dark bangs behind her ear when the bedside radio rang loudly. She glared at the offending device like she glared at Meelo when he interrupted a footsie with Korra. _When I find out who called, I will fire them the first thing I step into the office, I…_

“Hello, Sato speaking.” Asami said in barely repressed anger. The poor employee on the other side asked for her presence in the company with a shaky voice. The engineers at her company must had a draw or something to alert their boss, and the guy must’ve drawn the short straw. With a shake of her head, Asami got dressed, reminded Korra of their afternoon date with a kiss, then headed out.

Asami was staring at the desk clock intently. Her secretary Li Hua, who is seated next to her was very worried. Her boss has not blinked in a minute, and she is considering calling a healer, when her boss was muttering “ 2 more minutes…2 more minutes..” over and over again. Li feared that her boss has finally broken and spiraled into madness.

 _Perhaps it’s the heat? Or the way she hunches over blueprints all the time? Or those gases she must have inhaled when welding that gyrocopter hybrid thing? I’m such a bad secretary! Gosh, maybe there’s something in her tea! Why didn’t I check!_ Li pounced over to Asami’s tea, and drank a cautious sip. _Well… it tastes fine…_

Asami is still staring at her desk clock. She has razor sharp focus, and utilizing it for work is one thing, but this is….

“YES! IT’S TIME! KORRA YOU CAN COME NOW!” Asami leapt up from her seat, surprising Li, making her pour her boss’s tea all over her new blouse. To make things more interesting, the great Avatar flew through the large opened bay windows, and embraced her girlfriend like they were apart for 7 years.

“’kay thanks Li, you can take it from here, and remember to ask R&D for the prototype. I want it tomorrow. Also, ask Head Engineer Fang to take a mandatory vacation. He looks like a working corpse and I think he really needs a rest before he becomes one. Oh, and I hope you like your birthday blouse!” Asami shot out rapid fire like, before being scooped up by a grinning Avatar and swooping off on the air glider.

The new intern came in Asami’s office at the same time. He was greeted by Li, who was somehow soaked in tea and looking like she is going to strangle someone, two maniacal laughs from the window, and paper from the CEO’s desk flying everywhere.

“So, is she who I will be working for?”

“Yes. And she doesn’t know that she can leave anytime she wants.”

*********************************************************************************************************

            The Avatar, the most powerful being in the world, the person that brought forth a whole new era and protected the world from its doom, the master of all four elements, the savior of the air nation, and Asami Sato, the CEO of Future Industries, one of the richest and most powerful women in the world (aside from said Avatar,), the inventor that created the modern Republic City, the kindest philanthropist in rescue efforts, and master of 7 kinds of martial arts, is currently sitting under a flowery patio umbrella sharing a bowl of chocolate dessert in an outdoor café and getting chocolate cream all over their mouths. While giggling like little girls.

            Within Korra, Ravaa is questioning her choice in inhabiting such a childish human. _Maybe she can switch bodies, yes! To that chief of police that is as grumpy as her._ The two will goso well together that the world will get a grumpy avatar incarnate each generation.

            “Here comes the aeroplane!”

            “Mmm… That’s nice, BUT WHERE’S THE STRAWBERRY SLICE!”

            “Sorry ma’am! Here it comes!”

            “Hmm… That’s more like it.” Asami licked her lips indulgently.

            “Anything for my sweet and pretty CEO lady.” Both of them rubbed their noses in an eskimo kiss.

            Ravaa is suffering.

            “Say, where do you want to go for our date?” Korra asked, grabbing the last piece of the dessert with her spoon.

            “I don’t know, I’ll be happy to go anywhere with you.”

            “Hmm… Recreational sand-sailing? Rock sledding? Swimming with Naga? Visit Lin and leave a fruit basket?”

            Asami smirked at Korra’s ‘fruit basket’, which may or may not contain any fruits at all.

            “Well, you can decide while I pop into Huang’s. I need more reading materials.” Asami placed some yuan bills on the table and got up, ducking under the ridiculous flowery patio umbrella.

            “Reading agaaaaain? I think your brain has all the information in the world has to give already!” Korra followed Asami, wrapping an arm around her waist protectively as they crossed the street.

            “Yes Korra, I ravish books so they will give me more information than they already have. That’s why I know stuff other people don’t.” Asami rolled her eyes teasingly.

            “Asami, you perv! Am I not enough for you?” Korra retracted her arms from Asami’s waist and pouted.

             “Nonsense, Korra. Here we are. Aren’t you going to come in?” Asami opened the door to Huang’s Books, the most popular chain bookstore in Republic City. The door opened with a chime, and Asami instantly felt at home. She often runs off to bookstores when she was little. The old shopkeeper readied her own reading corner whenever she comes.

            “Fine ‘Sami, indulge in your vices! At least I’m here to see it.” Korra held the door open while Asami stepped in.

            “Fear and pray to your gods, books! Sato the Ravisher is here!” Korra announced to the whole store. The occupants of the store lifted their heads at the intrusion. Even the cashier is surprised.

            Asami wrestled the giggling Avatar to an empty section, franticallyshushing her. An old lady who was browsing through one of Future Industries’ engineering magazines looked at them disapprovingly.

            “Heyyyy ma’am… Hope you enjoy this month’s edition. We appreciate feedback!” Asami said with an awkward smile, ushering her childish girlfriend to the reference section.

            Both of them spent the next half hour browsing through books. Asami looking like she is in heaven, and Korra stealing glances at the fiction and Do-It-Yourself section.

            “If you are bored, you can go look for some books yourself, Kor.” Asami suggested, her eyes still skimming the volumes on the shelf.

            “Someone has to keep you from ravishing these poor books in public.” Korra joked. In truth, Korra loved the look of wonder in Asami’s eyes when she browsed through the books. Asami was more mellow and apathetic after her father’s death, and Korra appreciates every look of happiness in her eyes.

            That’s where Korra got her idea for her date.

           “Hey ‘Sami dear, wait here. Don’t fondle any books while I’m gone!” Korra went over to the cashier’s counter, and asked for a pen and some paper.

            “Avatar Korra? What is this ‘ravisher’ that you mentioned? Are we in danger?” the young cashier asked, his eyes wide with fear.

            “Yeap. It can only be appeased with numerous pieces of paper decorated with the Avatar’s calligraphy.”

            The cashier still looks like he is going to shit bricks.

            “Just kidding, dude. Thanks for the paper.”

            Korra went past the fiction section, and a book caught her eye.

            <<河心>>.

            She snatched the book up, and went to find Asami. She was seated crossed legged on a lush pillow in the reading corner. Asami completely ignored the “Children under 10 only” sign at the corner, and was content surrounded by children reading nursery rhymes.

            Asami looked up and saw her girlfriend. Excited, she pushed the book she was reading at Korra’s face.

            “Look! The newest edition of Kong’s Practical Electronics- Components and Techniques!” She pointed at a drawing of a maze of parallel lines, occasionally dotes with symbols and little circles. “It features the Satoverter, invented by yours truly, which is now studied intensively to expand the uses of the electromagnetic wave!”

            Asami was practically jumping around.

            “That’s great, sweetie!” Korra scooped Asami up in a hug, spinning her around in a circle, although she did not understand a word that she just said. Some kids left the reading area, complaining that the Avatar and the pretty lady is doing some “icky” stuff.

            “What’s that you have?” Asami eyed the blue book on Korra’s hand. “Ho Xin?”

            “Yeap. I used to read this book all the time when I was in the compound. It’s really inspiring.” Korra fumbled with the book. Exposing this bit of her life to Asami was… refreshing, but she feels that she ought to entrust her with that.

            “Then I’d like to hear all about it.” Asami said, motioning Korra to sit beside her.

            “Well, it’s an old water tribe folk tale actually. The story is about Ho Xin, a girl hailing from the Northern Water Tribe hundreds of years ago. Her father is a rich warlord with a lot of children, and she was his favorite daughter.” Korra paused. Asami is still looking at her with eyes full of wonder. Chuckling, Korra continued.

            “Warlord daughters like her pretty much sit around with flouncy dresses doing their hair and talking about boys, but Ho Xin is something of a rebel. She learned swordplay and basic combat skills, much to the chagrin of her mother. Now, a long time ago, there used to be a thing in the Tribes where women go pearl-diving. They are trained to hold their breaths for very long, and searching for oysters in the deep seabed. Ho Xin learnt that too, and she kinda like became the only none prissy warlord daughter.” Asami punched Korra’s arm playfully at the word ‘prissy’. “Then, the day came when the warlord was confronted by the Chief of the tribe. He was exiled to the Dong Si Isles, where only the toughest could thrive in its freezing temperatures. Ho Xin tried to rescue her dad and sold all of her jewellery and clothes, took her sword, cut her long hair short, then went on a journey. Gosh, I still get goosebumps whenever I get to that part.”

            The children came back, now entranced in Korra’s story.

            “So, she went to the harbor, and requested to be transported there. No one dares set foot there because it is as desolate and depressing as Eska and Desna. I used to think that both of them are named after that. Anyway, she bought a rickety boat, and sailed through the cruel storms and leaks in her cruddy boat. Finally, she reached the shore, which is as barren as Lin’s joy (Ouch, ’Sami!). There were some villagers there who offered her shelter amidst the freezing cold, but no one could reveal her father’s location. After a few days, she saw a priest conducting a ceremony. A young girl was to be pushed off the cliff and into the icy sea, sacrificed to a dark sea spirit residing in its depths. The brave Ho Xin stopped the priest and volunteered herself as the tribute. She took her sword with her and dived inside the sea, her pearl-diving techniques keeping her alive. Then, she saw the spirit, black as the night and evil as the mornings, lunging one of its tentacles at her. She realized that the spirit disliked light, and used it to her advantage. Then, she pierced the spirit’s single eye until it punctured and oozed out all of its gooey eye stuff, cut the monster open, and chopped off all of its tentacles! That’s my favourite part, by the way. Then she resurfaced with triumph and slight hypothermia, and the chief forgave the warlord because of her daughter’s heroic deeds, and they lived happily ever after while eating spirit tentacles for breakfast. The end.”

            The children (including Asami) applauded, and went back to their nursery rhymes. A girl turned to her friend and whispered :”The avatar is gross.”

            “Wow Korra, that’s such a nice story!”

            “Yeah, it kinda shaped my character. Ho Xin is like, my role model. Aaaand I kinda cut my hair because of her too.” Korra peeked her tongue out, and wrote something on a piece of paper. “Be courageous and determined, no matter who or what you are.” The paper read, and Korra clipped it between the book.  

            “What are you doing?”

            “I thought that we could spend time here instead, writing down small notes and leaving them in books so others can find them. Who knows, we could surprise them?” Korra grinned.

            Asami grinned too, and agreed promptly with her girlfriend’s idea. Unfortunately, none of their notes are inspiring quotes like Korra’s first note.

            Asami held up the Kong’s book she was browsing through. “Always tie hair up when soldering, reed relays are fun, and always buy Future Industries’ high-quality products.” She wrote with a flourish. “Hey, shameless self-advertising goes a long way.”

            “Not that you need it anyway.”

            Korra grabbed Asami’s hand and led her through the self-help section.

            “Hmm… “Escape The Diet trap, Lose Weight Effortlessly!” Asami picked up a random book, and read its title out.

            “Do it the Avatar way! Do 200 kicks on each leg, an hour of form practicing of each element, stretching exercises, flips and splits for another hour,100 push ups and sit-ups every 3 hours, then consume lots of fish!” Korra announced proudly.

            “Hey, that’s a good one!” Asami said, writing it down excitedly. Now she knows where her girlfriend’s exquisite body comes from.

            “Be Lonely No More: Ways to get friends and loved ones.” Korra rubbed her chin.

            “Be confident, have gorgeous hair, maintain a positive attitude and you wouldn’t need to buy this book! If nothing works, bribery goes a long way.” Asami said smugly.

            “Ohhhh no, Asami. If you used your hair to make friends, that friend might just be a little off in the head.”

            “I got help by my trusty moped too.”

            Realization dawned on Korra. “OOOOHHHH….” Korra mused, while writing down Asami’s “tips”.

            They scouted the bookstore for more books, picking one out and laughing at it on random intervals. If laughing at books were a sin, both of them will be joining Vaatu.

            “Hey! Look! Look!” Korra picked up a cooking book. “Charcoal Stove Meals for One.”

            “That’s… Sad… I think.”

            “Using a charcoal stove alone is sad enough.”

           Both of them wrote cheesy and loving messages to leave in the book for the poor soul that actually needed it.

            “Hey, didn’t I see you reading this the other day?” Korra picked up a novel with a picture of crossing swords on the cover.

            “I know exactly what to put in it! Tang dies in Chapter Twelve, Bav never loved Hangwei, GungLi is actually Liwen in disguise, Gaofeng got his heart dug out by King Shing Lung in Chapter Fifty-one, and out of the seven people in the party, only one survived, I shall keep the character a secret. Enjoy the story!”

            “That. Is. Evil. Asami.” Spoiling an interesting adventure novel’s key contents is almost the most evil thing one can do. Too late, Asami has already slipped a paper at the novel’s contents page. Korra silently prayed for the series’ fan that found this particular copy of the book.

            Korra went to the teen section, and picked up a book which is popular amongst lovesick teenage girls. “我来自划鲎星球”. “Hmmm… I hail from the planet of HwaHou? She flipped through the book and retracted immediately from the cheesy, predictable storyline. Asami joined her, and both of them cringed.

            “Can’t believe I used to like that stuff.”

           “Me too. Come on, some Prince Charming from another realm saving you from your little troubles? Get real.”

            “We used to be naïve teenage girls, Korra.”

            “And that. Is true.”

            Korra could almost see the gears in Asami’s head spinning again. Asami being this deep in thought is usually to think of a new prototype, or of a mean prank. This time, it is the latter. Asami grabbed the pen from Korra’s hand, and snatched a paper. Korra peered over Asami’s shoulder, and almost gagged at what she read. Asami was writing the worst love letter ever, presumably a throwback to her own teenage years.

            “Oooh oooh, write about her nose!” Korra inputted helpfully.

            “…your eyes are as crystalline as the salt I use to cook my vegetables, your nose is cute and round, an envy of all the girls around you. And your hair, dark as the starry night sky without stars. Oh, how I wished you found this book, so I could convey my true feelings to you, my dearest heart! Sincerely, your secret admirer.”

            Asami put down her pen and cracked her fingers, slipping the paper into the book. They did about 3 more of these, feeling closer to Vaatu everytime they did so.

            Korra turned a corner, and nearly gotten her nose smashed by a book emblazoned:”Studies on the Avatar Cycle”. The book was lowered down to reveal playful green eyes.Korra made a grab at the book, but Asami ducked quickly under Korra, protecting the book with her body. Korra wrapped around Asami and lifted the taller girl up, eliciting giggles from her. People nearby was staring pointedly at them.

            “Okay Korra, Okay! Put me down!” Asami smacked her hand playfully, albeit enjoying the contact more than she should. Korra leaned against the shelf with her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised, a smug smirk on her face.

            Asami flipped to the last section of the book, a topic dedicated entirely to the newest Avatar. “Avatar Korra, born in the Southern Water Tribe at 153 AG, only daughter to Chief Tonraq of the Southern Water Tribe and The Lady Senna.” Asami read out loudly.

            “Avatar Korra showed proficiency in bending Water, Fire, and Earth by the young age of four. She was then taken to a White Lotus Compound for her Avatar training, as well as protection from a kidnapping attempt by anarchist group The Red Lotus, when she was 5.” Asami read, pacing a little in front of the smug Korra. “Avatar Korra, who always has a rebellious streak, escaped from the compound when she was 17 to Republic City, where she learnt Air-bending from Master Tenzin, son of the late Avatar Aang, and also to meet the flower of Republic City, Asami Sato.”

            Korra’s eyebrows near disappeared into her hairline. She was pretty sure that is not written in the book. “Drawn by the Sato girl’s devilish good looks, Avatar Korra took up pro-bending in secret, where she has to sneak out every night, and plunge into the cold waters between the arena and Air Temple Island. Avatar Korra successfully drew the attention of the magnificent Ms. Sato with a crushing knockout against the Buzzard Wasps, in a show-stopping display that dropped every panties in the stadium.” Asami narrated in a serious tone.

            “Hey! Are you even allowed to say that here! Think about the kids!” Korra blushed, hiding her face the best she can behind two cookbooks with cracked eggs as their book covers.

            “Wait! The most important part is here!” Asami stared pretentiously at the book, while flipping down Korra’s cookbook with her other hand. “Avatar Korra faced many perils in her life, but for every successful Avatar, there is always someone who loves them unconditionally, like the belle of Republic City, Asami Sato. Sato loves the Avatar with all her heart, proved it by building a huge statue of her in the middle of a park, and taking her on lunch dates every other day.”

            “Oh sheesh Asami, stop it.” Korra’s blush is threatening to spread to her neck.

            “But most importantly, Asami Sato always wanted Avatar Korra to know that she is not alone, even in her lowest points and her darkest days, waking up from a nightmare, nor plagued by past memories.” Asami finished, closing the book. The playfulness in her eyes are now gone, replaced by earnest care and love.

            “I really missed you for that month, you know?” Asami muttered, holding Korra close to her.

            “And I missed you too. That month I spent in the Fire Nation was a real hell _fire_ though.” Korra chuckled.

            “Stop it, and I really mean it, Korra. Me, Mako, Bolin, Tenzin, the air kids and others, we’ll be at your side in a heartbeat.” Asami tilted Korra’s chin, the Avatar book now completely forgotten. Losing her past lives doesn’t feel so bleak now.

            “Excuse me? Miss Korra and Miss Sato?” the cashier is next to them, red faced and stuttering.

            The ladies let go of each other instantly. They totally forgot that they were in a public place.

            “Our customers expressed their concerns in you two being too loud and you know….,” the cashier started to shuffle his feet and looking at his shoes.

            “Ohhh I apologize for that, Mr…?” Asami switched to her business lady mode.

            “Tazzik”

            “Mr. Tazzik. My apologies. I’d like a copy of each book displayed on the reference section delivered to my address, and please send word to Mr. Huang to give me a report on the Future Industries’ monthly magazine sales. Have a nice day.” Asami took Korra’s hand and led her out of the book store.

            The couple laughed heartily outside the bookstore. “Do you think he knows about the papers?” Korra asked, wiping a tear. “I don’t know, and he sure as hell shouldn’t touch them. I’m chummy with his boss.” Asami composed herself, straightening her overcoat.

            “And I’m glad to report that you didn’t ravish any books while in my presence.”

            “So what do I get from that?”

            “Another date now, your decision. And a surprise for you when we get back.”

            “Hmm… send Lin a fruit basket?”

            “Fruit basket it is.”

          

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave any thoughts, tips or questions!
> 
> By the way, the story Korra narrated is very loosely based from a Japanese folk tale, The Oki Islands, which was also my childhood favourite.


	3. Pacman Date Pt.1 Clerk!Asami, Boxer!Korra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami lives a boring and fairly normal life working as a clerk at Varrick Global Industries. Korra just wants practice to be done so she could chill with her bro, Bolin. The two meet, with one absolutely crushing hard on the other and another fearing for her life. Mentions of Bopal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have actually started on this last week, but my college classes resumed. I had to prepare for my finals in 4 months instead of the standard 1 year (groveling, I know) soooo the next few months are gonna be hellish for me. *shrugs*. Anyway, updates to this story would be on a (hopefully?) weekly basis, length of chapters will vary. I tried to make this chapter as relevant to the Pacman date as possible buuuut the word vomit came. The first part will be the backstory and such, the part 2 (which will be finished soon) would feature the date itself.

3rd: Have her dressed up as a ghost and you dressed up as Pacman. Walk around downtown holding hands, and whenever anyone sees you two, pretend to be embarrassed, and run off screaming “wocka wocka wocka”

**Modern AU, no bending, Clerk!Asami, Fighter!Korra**

“Korraaaaa… Help meeeee…..” a tired Bolin limped inside the gym room carrying his overstuffed duffel bag. His hair is swept to one side, and his eyes are half-closed.

            “Wow Bolin, you look like shit. And it’s kinda saying something, coming from me.” Korra turned around, looking worse for wear herself. Her bangs are cowlick-ed, dark eye circles with the radius of a coin shaded her eyes, and a strip of dry drool still on her chin. Bolin chuckled at her, while she resumed punching a speed ball. Bolin collapsed on the side of the boxing ring, the elastic ropes serving as a poor substitute of a pillow. Korra collapsed like a sack of flour beside him moments later.

            “I know it’s not my position to say this, but we should get off our ass soon.” Bolin groaned, shielding his eyes form the harsh fluorescent light.

            Korra let out a louder groan than him, curling on the soft rubber surface of the ring. She’s actually lying in her own filth, but she just couldn’t care less.

            “And whyyy are we booked to train in the morning again?” Korra groaned somewhere in between her arms and the puddle of sweat. Bolin smiled sheepishly.

            “I… kinda have a date this afternoon, so…”

            Korra jolted up, grabbing Bolin by his shoulders. “Really?! You asked Wocky out?”

            “Yeah Korra, and she’s _Opal,_ not Wocky! Stop with the nicknames!” Bolin rolled away from her, partly to settle in a more comfortable position, and partly to get away from Korra’s smelly pits.

            “Hey, she seems fun, so it’s an _appropriate_ nickname. Besides, you’ll never had snagged her if it wasn’t for your trusty wingwoman.” Korra scooted closer to Bolin, much to his dismay.

            “I can pick up my own woman without your help, Kor. Who can resist these guns anyway?” Bolin raised his arms in a pathetic attempt to flex his biceps, but he actually looks like an overweight butterfly trying to flap its wings from his prone position.

            “Yeah? So tell me what happened at the coffee shop last week.” piqued Korra.

*******************************************************************************************************

_A week earlier_

            Both of them were fatigued. To the public eye, their morning tiredness could be from a whole night of partying, but who are they kidding? Korra and Bolin each needed about 13 hours of sleep, and they always spend the night in front of their Playstation, or going to sleep in the afternoon right after practice and waking up the next afternoon. Not wanting to be grilled by Coach Lin, Korra dragged Bolin’s sorry ass to a coffee shop nearby.

            “Hurry up, Bo! We gotta cross the street!” Korra tugged at Bolin’s arm, but he’s a deadweight.

            “Leave me, Korra! Save yourself and get caffeinated! I’ll sacrifice myself to Lin’s wrath.”

            “I leave no man behind, Bo! If we’re going down, we go down together!”

The impatient drivers honked at the muscular girl and the mountain of a man seemingly reenacting a scene from Saving Private Ryan in the middle of the busy road.           Korra gritted her teeth, finally tugging Bolin across the street. Bolin finally snapped up a little from his semi-sleep, and shuffled towards the coffee shop like a drowsy zombie.

They finally made the long (the gym is literally just opposite the coffee shop) trek to the door, and they were greeted by a long queue in front the counter manned by a pretty green-eyed barista. Korra smirked at Bolin when he unwittingly stared at the girl with his sleepy eyes. He has a crush on her for the longest time. The interior of the shop is decorated with paper bats lining the ceilings, fake spider webs adorning its corners, and a mannequin dressed in a tattered witch robe propped up in the corner, clutching a twig broom to celebrate Halloween next week. Bright LED lights were hung, casting an orangey glow, and soft Muzak played in the background. It created a warm environment that contrasted the cold grey weather outside.

 Korra was basking in its soothing ambience, observing people at their tables on their smartphones or reading a book, until her eyes landed on a girl sitting in a corner, busy scribbling on a paper while her eyes are at her laptop’s screen, her tongue subtly peeking out of her ruby-red lips. She brushed her silky raven hair back demurely, then adjusted her black-framed spectacles that aided her bright green eyes.

_Korra, stop staring. You’re behaving like a horny old man._

_But she’s pretty!_

_And you’re pretty creepy staring at her like that._

_Okay, fine! I’m just going to go over and… Wait, what am I supposed to do again?_

“Korra? Hey, Korra!” Bolin waved his large hands over Korra’s eyes, ending her raging internal monologue.

“Hello! What can I get you?” the cheerful voice of the barista Bolin was eternally crushing on greeted them.

Korra nudged at Bolin’s side, silently urging him to man up.

“Oh, err… Hi. Can I get two mochas, please.” Bolin started.

“Yes, to go or taken here?”

“Yes.”

Korra slapped a hand to her forehead. _Real charmer, Bolin._

“Oh… Oh! I mean to go, please!” Bolin shot back a little loudly. The shop’s occupants looked up, and Korra caught the raven-haired lady looking up amusedly at the corner of her eye.

“And…?” Korra whispered harshly at Bolin’s ear.

“Oh and… erm…” Bolin stammered and shuffled his feet. The heavyweight boxer that punched many grown men to tears melted under the barista’s playful gaze.

“Please add two more shots of espresso to each cup?” Bolin managed.

With a smile and a subtle hint of disappointment on her face, the barista turned away and got to work on their drinks. Korra slapped another hand to her face, as if to spare her the sight of the disgrace cowering in front of her.

“She’s just too pretty, okay!” Bolin whined.

 “I can’t be with you every step of the way, Bo.”

Bolin silently begged her with his eyes as the barista returned with their orders.

 “Enjoy your drinks! Anything else?” the barista asked, collecting cash from Bolin’s shaking hand.

“Erm… Hi, I’d like to ask you if… Erm… Me, I’m Bolin, and you, you are… hahah… if you are by any chance interested in… erm… Some coffee! We can never get enough of coffee, wouldn’t we? Heh… heh…” Bolin laughed lamely at the barista who is surrounded by an assortment of coffee powder, with dark coffee stains on her apron, and a coffee bean monogrammed on her shirt.

If Korra has a third arm, she’ll promptly slap it to her face too. She pushed the man away.

“What this blabbering _oaf_ ” she looked pointedly at Bolin, who was tapping his finger together in defeat. “means, is he thinks you’re really pretty and fun, and he’s interested in getting to know you more.”

“Oh… Erm… Okay! I mean… s-s-sure!” the girl stuttered out, taking Bolin’s hand and writing her number and name on it. Korra grinned. She’s as whipped as him too.

Korra nodded at the blushing barista, took the bag of coffee and a besotted Bolin out of the shop. She glanced over her shoulder to where the raven-haired woman was sitting, but her place was already empty.

*********************************************************************************************************

_Now_

            “Hello, please hold. Hello, please hold. Hello, please hold. Hello, please hold. Hello, please hold. Hello, please hold.” Asami repeated to the phone and pressed the switch hook after every phrase. She’s been fending off enraged calls since 8 in the morning, and now it’s nearing lunchtime. _Curse Zhu Li and her punctuality._ At least with Zhu Li around, she could take a break because her “Hello, please hold” is beginning to sound like “Yellow pisshole”. “Hello,” she paused, the caller was shouting through the phone. ”Please hold.” She pressed the switch hook, not caring whether the shouting guy heard it or not. At long last, the phone stopped ringing, and Asami knocked her head against the cheap plywood desk. She really needs a break. She lifted her head wearily and eyed the massive piles of paper on both sides of her desk. _Figures. I need more coffee._ Just as she was about to get up, Zhu Li burst through the door, and sat on her desk beside Asami.

            “Where have you been?!” Asami hissed.

            “I’m sorry! I got stuck in the traffic and then some guy decided to proclaim his love to his girlfriend in the middle of the road! Can’t they like, do it at the sidewalk or something?” She muttered, placing her thermos and bag hurriedly on the table.

            “Whatever. I’ve been fielding off calls the entire morning, and my mouth feels like sandpaper. You gotta take over, Zhu Li!” Asami begged, running her fingers through her hair.

            “All right, all right. I knew this would happen. I mean, what is Varrick thinking? Hiking the prices of mobile CPUs by 200% isn’t going to make people happy!” Zhu Li adjusted her glasses and squinted at the report on her table.

            “It’s not like he’s facing the brunt of it. Us clerks are battling the angry people, while he enjoys his wine coolers in his cushy office.” Asami stood up to get some coffee. Zhu Li waved to her, signaling that she wants one too.

            Asami poured the coffee powder into the two mugs, and went over to the water dispenser. She took a sip of the hot coffee, and cringed at the taste. _I’ll remind myself to get coffee from the shop next block instead._ Speaking about the coffee shop, her frazzled mind wandered idly to the events last week.

*********************************************************************************************************

_Last week_

            Asami took a half-day vacation, and skipped off happily after 12 to enjoy a nice meal, Netflix at home, and a tub of ice cream with her name on it. Just after a few steps into solitary bliss, her phone rang.

            “Asami! Good! Listen, I just came back from the Sweden summit and I’ll be having a meeting with the company’s board at 3. Send notifications to them, and e-mail me last month’s report on the electronic sales. Also, schedule a session with Jonas at 7:30, my calluses are back again. I’ll be having a teleconference with the Europe branch, which you need to be present, and cancel dinner with Mr. Raiko. Oh, if dinner with Raiko is cancelled, cancel tomorrow’s psychotherapy too.” Varrick, her CEO, spoke in his usual maniacal tone.

            “But sir, I’ve taken leave! And…”

            “No buts, Asami! At Varrick Industries, we stay at the forefront of technology development because of willing and hard-working employees! And I want those reports on my desk by 5!”

            _Easy for you to say…_

“Okay sir, I’ll have your reports prepped.” Asami looked at her wristwatch. It’s almost 1. Another day of half-vacation, gone. Asami huffed, and decided to go somewhere else to do her job instead, or her desk will be a constant reminder of her failed leave. She decided on visiting Opal’s coffee shop, maybe her friend can cheer her up. She pushed the glass door, decorated with Jack o’ lantern and skeleton stickers, and was greeted by the smell of ground coffee beans.

            “Hey, Asami! The usual?” Opal, the barista asked.

            “Not today, Opes. The boss sort of cancelled my leave, and I’ll do my work here, if you don’t mind.”

            “Sorry to hear that, some Chai Tea can cheer you up! What do you think?”

            Asami smiled, thanked her friend and went to her usual corner. Getting her laptop out, she popped on her glasses and tried to work. Her tea arrived, and she took a sip when a burly man and a blue-eyed woman entered the shop. She almost spat her tea out at the sight of the woman. She was dark and tanned, her sleeveless shirt showcased muscles that were flexing when she tried to push her friend to the queue. And those _eyes_. Just. Those _eyes._ They were ringed with a faint dark circle, but the fire in her blue eyes drew Asami in like a fish hooked on a reel. She licked her lips, and considered going over to the woman, who was staring around the quaint shop idly.

            _Oh, that guy is probably her date anyway._

            But the way that man looked at Opal proved her otherwise. _Wait, green eyes, hair that sticks out at the back…_ Asami opened her eyes wide at realization. He’s the guy that Opal has been crazy about. She remembers the nights Opal swooned over the phone about “the hot nameless guy with a bunch of muscles that went to her shop the other day”. She shook her head amusedly, Opal, you lucky little bitch. Maybe she can hook up with _his_ friend instead.

            She sensed the hot girl about to look her way, and she ducked her head down to her papers quickly. She felt her blue eyes burn at the back of her skull, and Asami blushed, frantically scribbling on her papers, and fidgeted about, adjusting her glasses and hair. _Damn! Where do I put my hands! Act cool, Sato._ She heard the green-eyed guy’s loud voice, and looked up. While the customers of the shop was looking at the guy, she stole a glance at the woman. _Okay, the rule of staring. More than 3 seconds is creepy. Time to look down now…_

Aaaaaaand… it’s already 5 seconds. _Good job, Asami. You’re now a certified creep._

Luckily for her, the girl wasn’t looking at her, and instead she has her palm to her face. Her eyebrows are scrunched together, and Asami can make out the beginnings of a grimace at the side of her palm. Cute. She averted her gaze to Opal, who has a disappointed look on her face as she turned away from the man, preparing their drinks. Asami felt sorry for Opal.

She looked at her watch again, and packed up her things to leave. She considered going over to Opal to thank her for the tea, and definitely _not_ to chance a conversation with the tanned and cute and tired-looking (urgh! She can go on) muscular goddess, but the blush on Opal’s face discouraged her _. Looks like someone’s lucky_ , Asami mused, before stepping out of the shop.

*********************************************************************************************************

_Present_

            “Asami! Hey! Asami!”

            Zhu Li was standing next to her in the pantry, grabbing a piece of her hair and fluttering it to grab her attention.

            “Oh sorry! Coffee?” Asami grinned sheepishly, holding the steaming mug out. Zhu Li took it with a confused look in her eyes, and sipped the beverage cautiously.

            “The boss finally made a press conference, and the calls are dying down.”

            Asami breathed a sigh of relief. Phone calls down, about a thousand paperwork left.

            “So what did he say?”

            “I don’t really understand those technical stuff that sprouted out of his mouth, but he’s blaming the price hike on the cost of the materials and manpower.”

            “Perfect cover-up for his expenditure on the swanky speedboats and psychotherapy sessions.” Asami laughed, who was joined by Zhu Li. She finished her cuppa quickly, and exited the pantry when Zhu Li grabbed her wrist.

            “Woah woah woah, not so fast, woman. You’ve been covering my ass the whole morning, and you look like you need to blow off some steam.”

            Asami raised her eyebrows. Does she imply…?

            “As repayment, I’ve rescheduled Varrick’s free time to the golf course, and I have started work on the customer notification draft. And… I’ve told Zhang to give you paid leave for today.” Zhu Li announced smugly, inspecting her nails.

            Asami jumped ecstatically and hugged Zhu Li tightly. “Thanks Zhu Li! You’re the best!”

            Zhu Li smiled, and shooed Asami out. “Enjoy yourself missy, don’t get into trouble!”

            The woman was already halfway in the elevator.

            Her heels clacked on the cement pavement, almost in time with the EDM a nearby bar is blasting from their speakers, the bass served as the background for a sunny afternoon. The always jammed roads are filled with dusty cars, the humming of their engines and the car honks filling the air, the shouts of taxi drivers and the occasional whistle from a construction worker served as the usual sounds of the busy metropolis. Asami, being every the metropolitan woman, basked in the city’s rush of activity. Everyone looks busy walking on the street, with their phones to their ear while balancing a tray of coffee and a briefcase, a group of students presumably rushing a last minute assignment, heck, even the little kid is engrossed in his iPad. But not Asami. She’s finally free (for this day only), and it is such a good time to…

            Asami stopped in her tracks, a man bumping into her then walking off with a few choice curse words.

            _To what, exactly?_

She hadn’t a plan for her impromptu leave, given her lack of any. Moreover, her tub of ice cream is gone after stress eating because of her cancelled leave last week, and she didn’t really want to spend a nice day like this skulking in her room.

            The crowd ducked past her to continue walking on the pavement, like she’s a rock dividing the water in the middle of a quick-flowing stream. _Yes, Asami, you’re dumb as a rock before. Now you’re one._

 _Ahhh… Opal’s!_ Asami slapped her forehead, cursing herself for not thinking about it sooner. She twisted on her heel and headed towards Opal’s ever crowded coffee shop. The door opened with the familiar squeak, and Asami was ready for some company by her best friend. _Was_ being the operative word, as she is greeted with the sight of a blushing Opal chatting up the same green-eyed guy at the counter. Sighing, Asami waved her hand lamely at Opal, trying to alert her lovestruck friend of her presence. Luckily, Opal’s (boyfriend?) crush turned around and noticed her waving like a meek turtle, then gestured at her to join them.

            “Oh hey, Asami! Didn’t see you there!” Opal said, finally noticing her when Asami was so close until her breath was running down her neck. Figures. With how they are looking at each other, Asami was surprised that Opal hadn’t ripped off her coffee-stained apron, jumped over the counter and eloped with him.

            Asami waved lamely, again. The guy chuckled good naturedly at her.

            “Asami, I’d like you to meet Bolin, my boyfriend.” Opal blushed severely at the word _boyfriend_ , and her _boyfriend_ blushed too. Bolin reached out a hand, and Asami grasped it firmly over his callouses. Asami, being the ever protective friend, gave him a friendly smile, tightened her grip suddenly, and leaned over to his ear. _Hurt her and I’ll make bongos out of your skull,_ she whispered, and returned to her position with her charming smile still on.

            “Finally, some new digs, Opal?” she smirked at her friend, who Bolin’s arms slung over her shoulder. Bolin grinned crookedly at her, still scared shitless after her threat.

            “Yeah… we meet when I’m working, but you left after he came in.”

            “Oh naaaah…. I needed to rush some stuff for the boss. So, how did it happen?” Asami asked excitedly, leaning on the polished countertop.

            Opal looked meekly at Bolin, who scratched his head before saying: “Well actually, I’ve been crushing on her for the longest time, but my friend helped me take Opal’s number. I just don’t have the guts to talk to such a pretty lady.” Opal slapped Bolin’s arm shyly, and they started making googly eyes at each other. Asami perked up at Bolin’s mention of his “friend”. _The hot lady!_ Asami leaned against the countertop again, trying to hide her excitement.

            “Sooo… tell me about your friend? Must be real good with words to help you with that.”

            “Yeah! Korra’s like, the best! Oh no no no sweetie, she’s not better than you, of course.” Both of them winked and giggled at each other. Asami resisted rolling her eyes.

            “Korra, huh? What is she like?” Asami cocked her hip, looking at Opal for a fraction of a second. Opal received the silent message, grinned, and nudged Bolin.

            “Honey, since you’ve met my best friend, you can tell us about yours! She sounds great!” Opal threw her a wink.

            “Um… sure, sweetie! I’ve met Korra since grade school, and she’s protected me against the bullies and stuff when bro’s not around. We went into kickboxing together, and she’s sooo awesome at it!” his eyes shone, showing his appreciation for his friend.

            “Kickboxing, huh?” Asami murmured, deep in thought. _That’s where those muscles come from…_

            “Yeah! We’re training under Coach Lin at the gym opposite here!”

            “Hey Asami, aren’t you supposed to hand in your report or something?” Opal smirked from Bolin’s arms.

            “Errr… Wha…? Oh. OH. Yeah. I’ve got important clerk stuff to do. Yeah…. Reports. Files and err…stuff…”

            Opal tilted her head, as if to say “GO!”

            “I…I... guess I’ll just get going? Heheh… bye guys!” Asami stuttered, shocked by the impromptu revelation. Is she really going to meet her tanned goddess like, right now? _Yeap._ She stepped out of the door and back to the sunny pavement, the blaring honks and chilly air awakening her from her stupor. Shaking her head and taking a deep breath to steel herself, she crossed the road like a woman going to battle. _Yes, I’m gonna catch that woman in action, and charm her panties off. You still got it Sato, I know you do! Mom says nobody can resist a Sato’s charm, right! Right? Maybe… Wait… I think I’m making a mistake._

She is already in the gym, amidst the sweaty fog created by people on treadmills and lifting free weights.

_Shit. It’s now or never, Sato._

She took another breath, and stepped forward. Damn, she’d just laid eyes on that woman and it got her into a nervous wreck. _What is she?_ Asami got her answer soon enough. She approach the boxing ring, and there her object of affections and stuttering is, propped up on the side of the box dressed only in a sports bra and Venom shorts, playing on her phone.

            “Urgghhhh… Yes! Perfect! Oh no! Why did I do that? Why? Stupid bird! Urgh… Now I have to shoot you again, you imbecile bird-brained… YES!” Korra squealed, swaying her phone in her sweaty hands and kicking her wrapped feet. Asami is still there, stunned. Korra’s grin is wide against her face, the yellow spotlights highlighting her sweaty face, and her muscular calves tangled in some Halloween streamers that lined the side of the ring. She was tempted to go and charm the ladies’ panties off like she vowed, but her confident stride is interrupted by a loud roar.

            “KORRA! BACK IN THE RING! WHERE’S MY 30 JABS!”

            A fit-looking woman with a head of short, wavy, grey hair entered the ring, nudging Korra’s head with her bare foot.

            “Aww… Coach Lin… You made me miss the shot!” Korra whined, gesturing towards the screen with one hand while kneeling on the side of the ring.

            “And how old are you, Korra, still playing Angry Birds?” the coach glowered like she was ready to wring her student’s neck.

            “Shucks, coach, Meelo loves this game!” Korra put her phone away, and lifted the elastic lines to enter the ring. She dropped into her stance, then jabbed sharply at the punching bag. She has a grin etched on her face, sweat slowly trickling down her face, the shadows from the paper streamers on the ceiling flitted on her muscular torso.

            “Urgh... I don’t know whose great idea was it to hang these ridiculous bats above my ring… Hey, you! You in love?” the coach shouted suddenly.

            Asami snapped out of her staring contest with the boxing ring, and pointed to herself, asking the coach if it was directed to her.

            “Yeah, you! What are you standing there for?”

            Korra steadied the punching bag with both of her hands, leaned against it and showed her bright smile at the flustered Asami. Korra directed a small wave with her gloved hand, amusement clear in her blue eyes.

            The poor clerk wished a hole could just open and swallow her up right now. She feels so small under the hard gaze of the coach and the playful gaze of her perfect, sweaty, childish, crush.

            “Erm.. er… I’ve come to learn… kickboxing?” Asami cringed and facepalmed mentally. _Is that the only thing you can think of? You don’t have time for that!_

            “Then why are you still standing there in that cheap-looking skirt? Get changed and come to the ring!”

            _What? Insulting skirts are a low blow!_ “I don’t actually have any… sportswear?” Asami attempted.

            The coach pinched the bridge of her nose, and waggled her fingers at Korra, as if asking her to take out the garbage, which Asami is feeling like right now.

           Korra took her coach’s message and ducked under the lines to jog over to the clerk. _Oh divine beings above, it’s actually happening! She’s coming towards me She’s coming towards me She’s coming to…_

“Hey I’m Korra,” she smiled again at the lovestruck Asami then offered her hand. Asami took it and shook it nervously.

“Asami.”

“Nice meeting you, Asami,” Korra took Asami’s arm (much to Asami’s joy) and led her to the locker room. The boxer handed Asami a shirt and long trackpants.

“Sorry, only ones I have for spare.” Korra shrugged her broad shoulders, then grinned sheepishly. “Hope you don’t mind.”

 _Gosh, could she get any cuter?_ “No problem, it’s perfect.” Asami grasped the shirt gratefully, summoning every ounce of her willpower to not hold her shirt to her nose. _What have you become, Sato._ She felt the material of the shirt, and she saw Korra still staring at her. Asami cleared her throat lightly.

“Oh, erm… Heh, sorry. You needed to change, right? I’ll be leaving now, join me when you’re ready!” Korra reached a hand behind her head, shuffling her feet nervously. Before Asami could say anything, the boxer had turned and left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Brolin.


	4. Pacman Date Pt.2 Clerk!Asami, Boxer!Korra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the preceding chapter, in which our heroine finds a dorky equal by her side to brave the wrath of the fire-breathing Coach Lin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand here it is! Time to get back to studying benzenes *sniffles*

_Shitshitshit, she’s really here! Is she here to kick my ass for staring at her? Dammit, Bolin! If it wasn’t for your stupid crush, I wouldn’t have met and stared at her! Wait, if it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t be here! Maybe it isn’t so bad after…_

“Korra! Done daydreaming yet? The punching bag’s waiting!” Lin roared again.

            “Sorry, coach.”

            “I’m not a sorry coach! You’re a sorry boxer!”

            Korra bit back a laugh. Lin is a hard-ass for sure, but she means well. She acted as a mentor to Bolin in his teenage years when he lost his parents, she wouldn’t admit it, but she has a soft spot for the clumsy and shy orphan.

            “Good, you’re ready at last. Korra, you can guide her through the basic moves.”

            She turned around, and found Asami in her shirt, and damn that lady makes it look good. The shirt fits Korra’s big chest snugly, but on Asami, it is a little too broad and short, showing a sliver of pale skin whenever she lifts her arms.  Asami was looking around nervously and twiddling the edge of the shirt, as if she’s a kid lost in a supermarket. _She really makes me smile_. Korra thought. She held Asami’s hands again, and guided her to the punching bag. What surprised Korra was that while Asami looks like a normal white collar worker, her hands were a little rough and wide, like she uses it more beyond writing and typing. _This lady is getting more and more interesting._

            “Sooo… I take it that you have some martial arts training before?”Korra swept Asami’s legs apart and lifted her arms, arranging her into a stance. _Damn, are those muscles I feel? Definitely here to kick my ass then._

“Ummm… yeah, I learnt some Tae Kwon Do when I was a kid, and some Thai boxing a few years back.” The pale girl replied softly, not daring to meet Korra’s eyes.

            “Wow, that’s interesting. So what made you want to learn kickboxing?” Korra stood beside Asami then demonstrating a side kick to the punching bag.

            The clerk hesitated, and kicked the bag in a perfect imitation of Korra. _She knows her shit. I’m done._ Korra shuddered before showing her a punch, which Asami also performed perfectly, with a loud thump to the bag, without a wince. Korra was deathly afraid when Lin asked Asami to knee a foam dummy, and she swore the solid dummy has permanent bumps in it now. Just when things couldn’t get any better, Lin called out to her.

            “Time to dance, lovebirds. Dress up and get in the ring.”

            Count on Lin to get her killed any day.

            Asami smiled sweetly at her while wearing gloves. Korra noticed that Asami has not answered her question, and she’s pretty sure the pale-skinned beauty is going to kick her ass and leave her to die. _At least I’ll die under the hand of a pretty lady instead of in a mouldy old bed. Bolin, tell mom I love her and tell dad I’m sorry I can’t come back to arm-wrestle with him again._ Korra prayed silently while stepping cautiously in the ring. She usually starts every match by lightly hopping on the springy surface, exhaling in long breaths and looking for the opponent’s weak spots, but instead her breath is taken away by the pretty face that is going to kill her.

            “Ladies, it’s just a friendly spar. No knees to the teeth and chest. Start.”

            Korra shielded her face automatically, thinking that Asami would knock her lights out and be done with it. But the hit never came. Instead, Asami was grinning crookedly at her.

“Hey, what’s wrong? You look pale.”

_Oh now you’re concerned._

Still not convinced that she is actually worried, Korra lowered her arms out of the guard slowly. “I-I-I’m not! Just don’t kill me, okay?”

“What?” Asami replied with a breathy laugh, bobbing up and down while circling Korra with her fists raised. Korra almost did not see the jab coming from Asami. She ducked under her arm, reverted to her original position and raised her arms to her face again. _Coach is sooo gonna enjoy this._ Korra experimented with a right hook, and it was parried expertly by Asami, who suddenly unleashed a right kick to Korra’s side. The tanned boxer took it with an audible ‘ooof’, and gritted her teeth against the pain.

“Come on, Korra. Getting bested by a newbie?” Lin egged her on.

“Nope coach, just warming up!” Korra piped up as cheerfully as she can, locking eyes with the green-eyed beauty in front of her. She aimed a quick front kick towards Asami’s navel, which hit its mark. Asami grabbed her leg, pulled Korra towards her, then kicked Korra’s left rib lightly.

“Hey! That’s cheating!” Korra clutched the side of her rib, pretending to be hurt.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry! I’m used to Thai boxing rules! How are you? Are you hurt?” Asami threw her gloves down and rushed to the groaning boxer’s side. Her pale hands roamed over Korra’s side, and she can’t deny that she enjoyed her gentle touch.

“That hurts, but I’ll live.”

Lin let out a loud snort from the sidelines. She can see through Korra’s massive bullshit. She left the room, shaking her head in amusement. _Young ladies._

            “Let’s continue, shall we?” Asami held her hand towards Korra. The next half hour is an enjoyable trade of kicks and punches between two ladies who have secret crushes on each other(although one still thinks the other is plotting to kill her). Asami would compliment Korra on each hit that landed, and Korra would whistle when Asami makes a typically difficult combo. Being in a fight is to observe and predict the opponents moves, but Korra finds it more and more difficult to do so. She is mesmerized by how Asami’s whole face lights up when she smiles, or when Asami carefully wicks beads of sweat away from her face, carefully avoiding her mascara, or how bright and green her eyes are when she playfully taunts Korra. Yep. Korra of the Southern Water Tribe, three-time lightweight champion, is officially crushing hard on Asami, the girl which she just saw last week and is currently kicking at.

            Her thought is broken off when she was abruptly slammed down to the ring in a nelson hold, her breath and thoughts completely knocked out of her. When Korra opened her bleary eyes, Asami was straddling her waist and still pinning her down with the hold. Her hair cascaded towards both of them, enveloping Korra in a curtain of silky black. Asami’s breath is hot against her neck and she showed no sign in letting up. Korra tapped her arms to signal that she yields. Asami huffed and removed her arms from Korra’s neck, swiping the sweat off from her brow.

            “Hey, we haven’t been on a date yet and you’re already straddling me.” Korra pointed out with a smirk, the pale thighs not leaving her hips yet.

            “Oh! Sorry!” Asami jumped up like Korra’s thighs spontaneously combusted. Korra chuckled at her antics while resting her head on her arms. Asami was blushing and twiddling her thumbs in front of her. Both of them are alone in the gym now, save for some 9 to 5 workers running on the treadmills. _Hmmph. Lin must’ve went home._ Both of them basked in the silence for a while, the only audible sounds are their panting, the whirr of exercise machines and faint tinny Dibby Sound from the speakers. Korra relished the feeling of sweat running down her face and torso as she covered her eyes from the warm yellow light of the gym.

            “Soooo… Asami, what are you doing later?” Korra spoke up after a beat, noticing the air around them getting awkward.

            “Oh! Umm… I planned on going home, taking a nice long shower and watching Netflix until I go senile. Apart from that, nothing else, I guess.” Asami swung her arms around and took long exhales to cool herself down. She stretched her arms over her shoulder, accentuating her back muscles in front of Korra’s admiring eyes.

            “Netflix, huh? I take it that you have nothing special planned for this evening?” Korra said, plopping her head down on the ground again.

            “What’s so special about this eve- Oh. Today is Halloween’s, isn’t it?”

            Korra gestured at the bat and pumpkin decorations with a ‘duh’. Truthfully, Korra is about to do the same thing as Asami planned to do, since Bolin is out with his new girlfriend. It was their tradition every year to dress up as something ridiculous and parade around trick-or-treating with other kids. Korra made a mental goodbye to the peanut butter cups and toothache she will get, and maybe her best friend that succumbed to his woman’s charms too.

            “So are _you_ doing anything tonight?” Asami finished her stretches and sat down beside Korra’s head, delicately avoiding the sweat on the ground that haloed Korra. The tanned boxer thought for a moment, trying not to be distracted by her crush’s scent and the fact her butt is inches away from her face. Korra sat up suddenly and propped her arms behind her.

            “I’m actually supposed to do 6 more laps and 4 more of Lin’s suicide circuits, buuuut you wouldn’t tell her I chickened out st the last minute, right?” she nudged the woman beside her. Asami gave her another one of her bright laughs.: “And here I thought this is a place of discipline. I might have to change places to train.”

            “Haha, Asami, I bet you didn’t even pay for your classes.” Korra jabbed, but snapped her mouth shut when Asami suddenly leaned on her shoulder. Her black hair spread on the side of her shoulder, and a faint waft of honeydew perfume emanated from it. Korra fought to stay still, hoping that they will stay like this forever. The raven-haired lady is silent again, but not without a shy grin on her face.

            “AHA! Got you, you little thief! Running around town mooching boxing classes and kicking asses!” Korra exclaimed. A towel was whipped towards her face. “I’m just here for the trial class, smart-ass.”

            “Oh.” Korra said, albeit feeling disappointed. Does that mean that they could never meet again? She shook her head clear of that thought, and stood up, pulling Asami by her hands with her.

            “How about we go out somewhere for the evening? Get some dinner… go trick or treating?”

            “Trick-or-treating? I’ve not done that since I’m 7!”

            “Then get showered and changed, missy! It’s time I let you in my annual Halloween tradition!” She let go of her hands reluctantly and marched towards the shower stalls, but she did see Asami’s face fall when their hands separated.

*********************************************************************************************************

            _OH GOSH. THAT WOMAN. HER. WHY. WHY IS SHE SO IRRESISTABLE AND CUTE?_ Asami thought to herself while washing her hair, the person in her mind showering just next door to her. She seldom makes any friends, Opal and Zhu Li being the exception, and she doesn’t really like human contact. But with _her_ , it just, feels so _natural_ , like they have known each other for years and the T&T they’re going to later is something completely normal. She almost died inside when their hands separated too.

            A knock on the stall door. “Hey, Asami? I’m done. I’ll wait for you near the ring, okay?”Asami muttered an agreement, and quickly finished up. She put on her work clothes and found Korra sitting on where she was when Asami first saw her, playing on her phone. Asami grinned and shook her head. Korra is still a child at heart. She strode over to her and picked up the phone.

            “Heyyy!!! I’m playing here!” Korra reached out for her phone, but Asami put a palm to her face, repeling her advances. The clerk launched the yellow bird from the catapult, and demolished the pigs’ structure with a well-aimed shot. Korra could only stare at her bug-eyed.

            “Goodness! How did you do that?”

            “I sacrifice the souls of 10 newborns every other week.”

            Korra chuckled. “No really, you got to teach me those skills!”

            Asami cocked her brow and grinned at Korra’s determined expression, as if demolishing pigs with birds is one of her life goals. “Each bird have their own trajectories. And being a great kickboxer isn’t enough for you?”

            “Yeah! I have three belts at home, but making pigs pop is rewarding too!” Korra retorted with a pout. Asami handed the phone back to a bewildered Korra, as she saw three gold stars being displayed on the screen. “Witchcraft,” Korra muttered under her breath.

            “Pardon?”

            “No! I mean, you ready to go?” Korra said, offering the crook of her elbow to Asami, who took it graciously.

            The two women walked out of the cozy gym and into the grey, chilly evening air. The storefronts on the streets went all out Halloween, with pumpkin heads, plastic skeletons and the like heading it, all illuminated by the orange lights, which in turn was overcast to the grey pavement. Above the streets are orange lanterns with the wishes and thoughts of the people inscribed on them, its warm fiery glow embellished the low-hanging clouds in the sky. Asami admired the decorations and the warm feeling it gives her. The city never fails to deliver in festive decorations each year. She took a peek at the woman next to her, and she has a dumbfounded expression on her face as she took in the sight of the streamers. Asami noticed that her arms are still curled around Korra’s elbow, but seeing that the tanned beauty didn’t mind, she wrapped herself around the muscular arm a little tighter.

            “Where did you want to go?” Asami asked, and Korra tore her eyes away from the streamers.

            “We could grab some dinner first, then pick up some stuff for our T&T, if you want” Korra laughed, smoothing her short hair to reveal an undershave.

            “Care to tell me more about how your tradition came to be?”

            “Why would you want to know?”

            “Hey, a girl deserves to know if she is going to be whisked off to a fun evening or kidnapped by a psychopath posing as a cute kickboxer.” Asami pointed out, and blushed. _What?! Did I just said cute?_

Korra turned away to hide the redness of her cheeks, and coughed. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you. It started five years ago when Bolin and I got bored. So, we decided to go out and do something ridiculous to shake things up a bit. The fact that we prepare our stuff on the day itself adds to its craziness.”

            “You do that every year?” Korra nodded her head yes, her eyes straying to a store with a moving model of a tall Frankenstein’s monster.

            “Last year, Bolin dressed up in fishnet stockings and a pink feather hat while he ran around screaming Kesha’s greatest hits.”

           Asami almost bawled over laughing at the image that sprouted in her mind. “So what did you do?” She asked, dodging past a couple parading as Beauty and the Beast.

            “Oh I don’t know, I dressed up as a crocodile, the costume is 2 sizes too big, mind you, and sort of pretended to bite the arm off any pirate costume I see.” She rubbed her neck sheepishly.

            “Are you guys drunk or what.”

            “Nope. Just high on the spirit of festivity! Come on!” Korra lead Asami by the crook of her elbow again, and tugged her into a costume store. The cashier behind the counter greeted them with a beaming smile, which Asami returned. The store is laden with various costumes packed in clear plastic bags. The floor of the store looks like it survived a hurricane, with unpacked merchandise spread all over it, and some last-minute scragglers sitting on the floor sifting through the stuff. Korra released Asami’s arm and bounded about the store, expertly weaving through the mess and picking up a huge chicken costume.

            “Look! I think we can act as a poor Thanksgiving turkey about to get served! Now we just need to find a chef’s costume!”

            Asami laughed at Korra’s energy, and she picked up a nurse costume, placing the costume’s bra piece on her chest. “Look at my chest! It’s a big plus to my healing skills!”

            Korra roared in laughter at Asami holding up the bra, emblazoned with two red pluses on each cup, with a crooked expression on her face. The blue-eyed boxer held up a French maid’s costume, complete with a lacy apron and an equally lacy headpiece that looks like a sleepy white maggot.

            “Oh _Misz Asamie_ , what would you like me to do today?” Korra strutted over her with a seductive expression on her face. Asami merely spluttered in surprise and embarrassment. Korra threw the headpiece off and clutched her stomach in howling laughter, while Asami joined along lamely. She swiped a teacher’s costume off the rack, and placed plastic spectacles frame on her nose. “Today’s lesson Is about shutting up, add that to your homework for today.” Korra couldn’t take it anymore. She laughed uncontrollably and wheezed like a demented Darth Vader, then crashed into an aisle, leaning against a rack while regaining her breath.

            Asami galloped off after her despite of the weird stares thrown to her by the other occupants of the store. She found Korra on the ground still clutching her belly, face red with excitement and sweat. Asami joined her on the floor and messed up her short hair. Soon, their laughter died down to small giggles and petty swipes directed at each other. Asami was enjoying the smile on Korra’s face and the excitement from earlier when a plastic package dropped on her head, momentarily blinding her. She heard a hearty chuckle as Korra lifted the offending package form her head. The other woman opened the plastic bag while wiggling her eyebrows, then pulled out a Blinky costume. Korra held the polyester material high above her head like hoisting a trophy.

            “The costume gods has spoken, that you, Asami…” Korra looked at her questioningly.

            “Sato,” Asami laughed.

            “…That you, Asami Sato, is destined to be the fearsome Blinky for tonight!” Korra announced, placing the costume over Asami’s head. She stood up, rummaged through the endless piles of bags and found a yellow Pac-Man full-body costume. Korra tore the package open and slipped the spherical costume over her head.

            “And I, Korra, would be your arch nemesis, the mighty Pac-man, devourer of ghosts!” Korra flexed her biceps while Asami struggled with the arm holes of her costume. The red ghost enveloped her while leaving a hole for her face to peek out of, and it looks far less ridiculous than Korra’s abysmal yellow costume, which only showed a sliver of her face under the mouth opening.

            “Was this how you and Bolin chose what to dress up as?” Asami finally extended her arms through the holes.

            “Yeap. Same shop, same time, every year!” Korra took Asami’s hand again, grabbed a bucket on the way out then paid the cashier who is keeping down her laughter.

            “It’s your first, so it’s on me.” Korra winked, then whisked the befuddled woman out to the street with her. More costumed people milled about the streets now, with friendly cyclists ringing their bells at them in greeting whenever they passed. Asami looked around and saw a few people just in plain cardboard boxes with a sign that says “I wanted a banana but all I got was this box.” She let out a relieved breath, everybody looks funny but they don’t care the slightest. She was interrupted when Korra tugged her arm.

            “Hey, you played Pac-man, right?”

            Asami just stared at her for a while.

            “What? No! Please tell me you’re kidding!” Korra looked crestfallen for a moment, the cute pout returning to her face.

            “Of course I did, silly! Now what’s your plan for our adventure tonight?”

            “Just trust me, and run when I tell you to.” Korra held Asami’s hand tenderly in her big brown ones, then walked to a nearby housing area like a normal couple taking a stroll.

*********************************************************************************************************

            _Hot damn, Korra, you smooth motherfucker._ Korra mused to herself while looking at their joined hands smugly. She gazed fondly upon Asami, who was pointing excitedly at a masterfully done Geralt of Rivia cosplays, complete with his entourage of sorceress girlfriends by his side. _Here goes nothing,_ Korra breathed nervously, as she led Asami to a whitewashed door and knocked on it. A pregnant lady with a friendly face opened the door to greet them.

            “Sorry ladies, I’m all out of candy.” She said with an apologetic smile.

            “Aww shucks, why?” Korra asked with a pout.

            “A few minutes ago, a bunch of the cutest kids came up to my door asking for candy.” her eyes glassed over. “Then one of them said that she loves me, and I gave her everything!”

            “Sheesh. No wonder she’s pregnant.” Asami muttered under her breath, which earned a hard nudge from Korra. “Thank you anyway, ma’am! Have a nice evening!”

            The lady looked at their adjoined hands, then mused :”Pac-man and a ghost, huh? Are they supposed to hold hands?”

            Korra’s eyes widened, then whispered ‘run!’ to Asami. Korra ran blindly, followed by the confused pale girl.

‘WOCKA! WOCKA! WOCKA!’ Korra shouted while being chased by a giggling Asami, who finally got her gist. A few passer-bys laughed good-naturedly at their antics.

The ladies ran quite a distance before they stopped to catch their breath with panting laughs. “Korra, you evil genius!” Asami exclaimed, patting the head of the yellow costume. “Come, let’s get some candy!” She grabbed Korra’s hand, rushed through the crowded streets, with Korra’s bucket flailing around behind them.

They finally filled their tin bucket with some candy from amused tenants, surprised to a couple of women in their 20’s  behaving like 6-year olds, and getting into mock fights with said 6-year olds for the finest chocolate bars. A man saw them together and pointed out their joined hands, which Asami responded promptly by chasing Korra around, both screaming the sound effect at the top of their lungs, and Korra throwing Cheez-Its into her mouth. Both of them ran past Bolin’s brother, Mako, who has his arms around a girl, presumably taking a romantic stroll while chuckling at costumes.

“Hey, Mako!” Korra shouted and waved as she ran past Mako, her mouth yellow with Cheez-It dust, with more of the snack entering her mouth in rapid succession. Mako pinched the bridge of his nose, while his companion touched his cheek in concern.

“Who was that?”

“Erm… No one! Some mental girl, I suppose.”

And he wasn’t totally wrong. Pac-Man tripped over something and couldn’t get up because of the costume’s shape, and Blinky rushed over to help her up, but both of them toppled over in maniacal laughs instead.

“Hey, let’s go there! I think I saw a Michelangelo statue!” Mako placed a hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder, guiding her away from Korra and Asami, who was still on the ground laughing next to their overturned bucket, its contents spilled everywhere.

The girls however, were having the time of their lives. They went door to door, the anticipation of being called out because of their costumes kept their adrenaline pumping. Korra loved the way Asami gave her tinkling laughter every time they took off shouting like hooligans, or how her eyes shone when their bucket is filled up with more chocolatey goodness, or the way she throws admiring gazes at her when Korra gave a poor kid some of the candy with encouraging words.

After a few hours of running around, they neared Korra’s apartment, and she led the clerk to the street in front of her apartment block. Both of them collapsed in fatigue and excitement for the umpteenth time that day. Asami slipped the top off the Blinky costume to free her sweat-soaked hair, while Korra counted the spoils of the night.

“You should have seen her face, Korra! It’s like she’s going to puke rainbows anytime!” Asami laughed while recounting the events just now. Korra merely chuckled and passed a Snickers bar to Asami. She watched how Asami’s face lights up subtly when she chews delicately on the chocolate bar. The clerk wiped the edge of her shyly and looked at Korra with raised eyebrows when she caught her staring too long.

            _Well shit, it’s now or never, Korra!_ Taking a deep breath, she asked: “Had a great night?”

            “Hell yeah! I never had a friend with this level of energy before! My co-worker, Zhu Li is allergic to fun and Opal is busy all the time!” Asami flapped the empty candy wrapper around, her eyes wide and bright. She let out a blissful whoop at the dark empty street, with only the streetlights and the moon providing some light to the barren street. Asami widened her eyes in fear from Korra’s surprised expression, and recoiled from her joy immediately.

            “Oh sorry, It’s just that, I don’t express my emotions much, and this night made me really happy.” Asami blushed, her head hung down.

            “Hey, I don’t mind, really. In fact, I think that it is cute that you can finally let it out that way. I admire you for that.” Korra enveloped Asami in a hug.

            “Thank you.” Asami whispered in Korra’s ear, and they separated hesitantly after a few minutes. Silence fell upon both of them again, only the sounds of crickets and muffled music from the apartments resonated in the night sky. _Okay, champ, you got this, it’s time to ask her now._ Korra took a deep breath and grabbed Asami’s hand.

            “I…” Both of them started at the same time, and they fell into awkward giggles. Asami gestured at Korra, signaling her to begin first. Korra inhaled deeply again, exhaled loudly, and focused her eyes on Asami’s mirthful green ones.

            “Listen, Asami, I know we just met today and all, but I had a really good time with you today. I actually saw you in the coffee shop last week, and I’m attracted to you since. Heck, when you came to the gym this afternoon, I thought you were going to kick my ass for staring at you! But you weren’t, and I find that you are one of a kind, Asami Sato! Sooo… ummm…” Korra faltered, an intense blush covered her cheeks that reached her neck, as she turned away from the green eyes and hugged herself. _Shitshitshit, who’s the smooth one now? And you blame Bolin for acting like a dumptruck?_

She heard a chuckle beside her, and a hand reaching to her chin. Her head was swiveled to meet the green eyes again, but this time it is filled with a resolution and a hint of softness. “Korra, I really really like you too.” Asami said, almost stopping Korra’s heart. She was about to follow up with something, but the softest pair of lips met hers. Korra was stunned for a moment, and then returned the kiss with fervor. Asami’s lips moved against hers, and Korra followed suit, not wanting to give up this moment for anything in the world. Asami opened her mouth slightly in invitation, and Korra deepen the kiss, threading her hands through silky black locks as she felt a pair of arms snaking her waist.

            The kiss lasted for quite a long time before both of them felt dizzy and had to come up for air. The two stared at each other for a moment, a hint of smile on Asami’s puffy lips, and Korra with a glazed, woozy expression. Asami covered Korra’s hand with hers, and both of them exploded into giggles again.

            “Umm… so…. What now?” Asami asked shyly.

            “We could continue trick-or-treating or something, I guess?”

            “Well, we’re outside of your apartment block, aren’t we? You can start by inviting me in?” Asami suggested.

            “Oh! Erm, Okay! This way, please,” Korra stood up and took Asami’s hand with a bow, despite not looking poised at all in an obnoxious yellow costume.

            “Well thank-”

            “Korra! Is that you? I can’t find you in the gym!” A familiar voice shouted out, and it revealed a royally pissed-off Coach Lin who expected to find Korra slacking off in her room.

            The new couple grinned at each other, grabbed the bucket of goodies, and…

“WOCKA WOCKA WOCKA WOCKA!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every and any thoughts, comments and tips are appreciated!  
> And yes, it was Bolin who made Zhu Li late to work in the part 1.


	5. Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From the "tree date" universe. Our favourite couple experiences an uneventful night, which summoned up ghosts from the past. Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sooo sorry this is in parts. The date part isn't completed yet, and boy it's going to be long. :(
> 
>  
> 
> Oh, and sorry this was late!  
> 'Ya know, life... birthdays... parties... fics.... classes...  
> *Slowly slinks back inside bush*

4th:  Create photo evidence suggesting that you went on an adventure that didn’t really happen.

 **AU from the first “tree” date. Modern, no-bending.**           

 

“Ugh… Korra… I can’t do it” Asami panted.

            “C’mon Asami, it’s not that big, you can take it.” Korra replied with a smug grin, waggling her hips.

            “B-but it’s like, _humongous._ Where did you even find this thing?” Asami groaned, adjusting her position.

            “Anything to please my girlfriend. Size does matter, don’t it?” Korra smirked and thrusted harder.

            Korra shoved back and forth, grunting with the effort while Asami let loose a myriad of frustrated hisses. _Seriously Korra. The ideas your head come up with._ Asami shook her head, flipping onto her back. _Maybe this position will allow it to reach deeper._

“Just a little more… J-j-ust…A little… More!” Korra groaned and panted, sweat coating her body as she adjusted herself with Asami’s new position.

            “Korraaaaaaa come on! I can’t wait anymore!”

            “A little bit more, weenie Asami!”

            The pale girl groaned in annoyance, the rhyme to her name is hugely inappropriate in their current situation.

            “Korra of the Southern Water Tribe, I swear to my name if you don’t hurry up, I’ll-”

            “Chillax Asami baby, it’s our first time! There’s bound to be some… snag in your snatch.”

            “KORRA!” Asami yelled at the girl between her spread legs. Her arms are going to give way soon. Korra chuckles and thrusts with all of her might. She could feel the end coming soon. Asami’s grunts reached a crescendo, her body sliding over the cold concrete floor. Looking down at Asami’s sweaty face, she gave a long push, and her girlfriend gave a long groan of completion.

            “Phew, at last!” Korra wiped the sweat from her brow, finally dislodging herself from the huge, deflated rubber Hotdog balloon. “Hmmmph! Little… Help here!” A muffled voice came from bellow the mustard pattern on the hotdog, and a pale arm waving from the rubber “bread”. The blue-eyed woman rushed over to her girlfriend’s aid, pulling her out of the heavy rubber with a disgusting “thwaaaaaack”.

            “SWEET MADAM CURIE SITTING ON AN APRICOT TREE! IF I DIE UNDERNEATH A RIDICULOUS USED MACY’S BALLOON I CAN’T FACE MY MOTHER IN HEAVEN!!” Asami screamed after she inhaled a big gulp of fresh air. Her girlfriend, however, was busy rolling on the floor laughing her ass off.

            “Oooh ‘Sami dear, you should have seen yourself! Wriggling on the ground like that!”

            “If it wasn’t for _someone_ getting stuck in the rubbery mess, I wouldn’t need to be devoured by this… this… lumpy shit too!” Asami retorted in pure frustration. Korra collected her flustered love in her arms, instantly shushing her up by pressing her lips to her ruby red ones.

“Wha…? Hmmm… Oh.” Asami muttered before her lips are engulfed, her earlier frustrations evaporating instantly. Korra separated their lips and gazed proudly upon the huge balloon she and Asami has successfully crammed inside the narrow storeroom.

            “Where did you get that thing, Korrie?” Asami muttered from her lover’s chest.

            “See, I was going to Jinny’s, but there was this awesome garage sale of some sort by this nice family on the pavement with tables full of junk? So they were all smiles and shit, and I saw this _behemoth_ balloon just, like, chilling behind them. Naturally, I got down from the car and bought the hell out of it.”

            “I do remember very well that I asked you to pick up some chinese mustard leaves.”

            “Trust me babe, this is waaaaaaaay better than any lame vegetable freezing in a children’s tantrum haven.

            “It’s called a supermarket, Korrie.” Asami said with a sigh, snuggling further into her girlfriend’s ample chest. Said girlfriend merely rolled her eyes, a proud arm on her hip and the other slung around the raven-haired woman. Both women stared at the huge mass of rubber sitting in the storeroom, joining its brothers in the “Shit Korra bought impulsively” pile. Asami could only sigh at her adorable girlfriend, and the grin on Korra’s face tells her that she’ll be kept busy in the afternoon, before attending their high school’s homecoming dinner later tonight.

*********************************************************************************************************

 

            “Okay, free for all!” Asami shouted from the driver’s seat, hitting the steering wheel of the Aventador with her hands playfully.

            “Hey Lin, nice bonnet!” Korra said in a sickeningly honeyed falsetto voice. Asami reached a red light and stopped her car. She scrunched up her face comically, thinking hard for a comeback.

            “I’ve worn this to ward idiots away, but it seems to have the opposite effect.” Asami managed out in a poor rendition of Lin’s grumpy monotone voice. Both women burst out in raucous laughter, with the raven-haired women slamming the ornate leather-clad and mahogany steering wheel and the blue-eyed beauty snorting like a pig in heat.

            “That was savage, Sato! I didn’t know you had it in you!” Korra finished her snorting and patted her girlfriend lovingly on the head. They were on the way for their homecoming dinner in their old high school’s gym, and both of them are decked out in their (almost) bests, with Asami in a stunning red Alexander McQueen dress, and Korra in Vera Wang and Louboutins. The dress fitted Asami perfectly, hugging her curves snugly--which Korra admired with appreciating eyes --while showcasing a cheeky slash on the middle that displayed the top of her well-toned abdominals. Korra tried averting her eyes away from Asami -- who was feeling right at home in the seat of the sports car, sporting a slight maniacal grin as the light turned green-- by waving at some awed teenagers in a beat-up Dodge beside them staring at their car. She chuckled at their ludicrous expressions, but stopped herself when she realizes she stares at Asami the same way too.

            “Korra? It’s your turn!” Asami spoke up from the driver’s seat while driving past their old favourite joint, Shelly’s.

            “Huh, what did you say?”

            “I said, Why did the chicken cross the road, Lin? To get to the other side!” Asami said in a voice eerily similar to the sharp timbre of Varrick’s, which made Korra’s head snap up instantly.

            “Ooooh boy, ‘Sami babe, it’s a hard one,”

            “That’s what you said this afternoon.”

             Korra retorted by slapping her bracelet adorned arm.

            “Oh, and I thought it was going to the idiot’s house.” Korra continued in Lin’s voice, but in a more bored and deep tone, then switched to a poor mimic of Varrick’s that sounded more like a macaw. “Huh? Why?”

            She switched back to Lin again, “Knock. Knock”

            “Oooooh! Who’s there!” Asami shouted in a gravelly thin grandmother-ly voice.

            “The chicken.”

            “GET THE BURN HEALS! KORRA UNLEASHED THE CHARIZARD AGAIN!”

            At this point, the poor steering wheel probably got more hits than Bee Gees on its shiny surface, and Korra could see the beginning of a palm-shaped dent. She cringed internally and rubbed her arm, but a laughing Asami tugged at her other arm, her eyes leaking with elated tears, and a wide smile on her face by her ruby-red lips. Korra spotted Asami’s grin, and can’t help but form one herself. Seeing Asami happy has always made her feel like she has won the lottery or something, because her face is usually professional like and nonchalant when going about her business, and her true smiles are usually reserved for her goofy girlfriend. Noticing that Korra was staring at her for the umpteenth time that day(like she does every other day), she broke out into a wider, toothier grin, and held Korra’s tanned hand over the gear stick.

            The smile and bright laughter soon died off when they approached a familiar privet, bright balloons and spotlights spotted at the distance, the harsh white light penetrating the dark cloudy night sky.

            Republic City High.

            Its brownstone exterior has been changed to a modern-looking grayish rock that gave it a sleek futuristic look, and the main building has gotten rid of the bay windows, replacing it with wide, glass panels that gave it a modern chic office look. So much has changed since their graduation from that place 5 years ago, but their aesthetics as the nation’s top private school has not changed. Asami pulled up to the front gate and set the gear to free, enjoying the soft purr from her baby’s engine as she took controlled breaths. Korra touched her arm with a soft smile, and Asami gave hers with a small shake of her head. Her door was opened by a courteous Korra, and she took her offered hand while she handed the keys to an excited valet who is jumping with joy.

           “Not a scratch. Or you’ll find yourself with some.” Asami leaned over and whispered in the valet’s ear, much to Korra’s confusion. Asami smiled sweetly at her girlfriend’s raised eyebrows and smoothed her girlfriend’s scrunched up forehead with a loving hand, then headed to the ballroom arm-in-arm. Korra chatted excitedly whilst pointing to the various statues and building around them, and Asami merely smiled and nodded amusedly, pressing herself closer to Korra’s arm, trying to hide from the people around them pointing at her.

           “…oh, and the two stone lions at the front gate? I never told you, but you remember that one time you fell in the puddle, and it was raining like shit, and you kinda sprained your ankle?” Korra muttered, expression turning soft, her hand closing over Asami’s on her arm. Asami nodded and looked down.

******************************************************************************************************

          She remembers that day. She was tricked by Tahno and his gang of stupid jocks when they said her submission to the university got accepted, and the whole school knows except for her. Naturally, she ran right out of the school gates and to the engineering club building next door, her excitement overshadowed the nagging suspicion in her mind that this was a fluke.

          She tried opening the locked front door to no avail, and slapped her forehead when she remembered that it wouldn’t be open during school hours, where all students -including herself- are to be in class by now. She resorted to plan B, which was to climb the tree leading to the window she leaves open for ‘emergencies’ (one of them being sneaking Korra in for mid-afternoon snacks).  It started drizzling when Asami placed her foot on the slight stump of the bark, the bland rainwater flattening her hair on her head and dripping into her shirt. Asami placed a foot on the branch above, but almost slipped because of the water. She was reaching hard for the other branch when she heard the sneering voice of Tahno and his jocks below the tree.

          “Well well, the Asami Sato, caught on a tree outside school during class.” Tahno looked menacingly at her through his long oily fringe that covered part of his face.

         “What are you doing here, Tahno?” Asami seethed, her grip slipping on the branch.

          “I would ask the same, Sato. It’s really unlike you to play truant during a maths class. Since that class is the only thing that makes you feel superior to others.” Tahno looked to his friends like he dropped the biggest joke of the century, and his scumbag peers sniggered below the tree, hands stuffed in their varsity jackets.

“Fuck you, Tahno. If you would actually try to use your brain, you wouldn’t need a football to your head every day to kickstart it.”

Tahno clenched his fist and took an aggravated step forward to the tree, but he retracted with a sly smile on his face. “It’s raining quite heavily, Sato. Heard that it isn’t quite a good time to be near trees. Especially with the thunders and stuff.” He seethed to Asami’s indignant face.

“So long, Sato. Don’t fall down like you university dreams. It might break your precious _brain._ ” Tahno turned and left with his sniggering friends, while throwing a careless wave over his shoulder.

Asami gave him the finger, hoping its message can be sent through his stuffy jacket and his product-slicked hair. She squinted up amidst the dripping leaves and looked down on her foot. The water pooled around the various caveats of the branch, and the moss on the wood isn’t helping with her descent. She punched the tree in frustration. _Where is Korra when you need her?_

_In class trying to make the teacher kill her, I guess._

_Good job Sato, but a solution to get down from this tree before you get zapped will be a more viable use of your time._

_Okay, I would call Korra, hope that she didn’t drain her battery playing Modern Combat, and stop talking to myself. Right._

She plucked the phone from her jeans pocket, silently thanking that she didn’t wear her skinnies today, and tried to still her shivering fingers as best she could to dial Korra’s phone number. She held the device to her ear, while hanging by her finger on the branch, and the rain pelting mercilessly on her head

 _Come on… Come on…_ She begged, looking worriedly at her hand, which was punctured by a rogue chip. Korra picked up on the fourth ring.

“’yello!” Korra’s hazy voice drawled through the phone. Normally, Asami would be irritated by her laziness, but right now her voice sounds as sweet as angels harmonizing in the heavens above.

“KORRA?! THANK GOD!”

“Whoa whoa Asami, what happened? Why aren’t you in maths?”

“ListenupKor,I’mstuckonthetreeoutsidetheengineeringbuildingandit’srainingand…” Asami’s voice broke off, and a loud crash was heard trough the phone.

“Hello? Hello?” Korra shouted wearily, the whole class staring at her by now. Slamming the phone on her desk in frustration, she put on her coat amidst the teacher’s shouts.

“And where are you going, Miss Korra?”

“Bathroom break. Cleaning the bullshit from your mouth clogging up my ears.”

Before the teacher could open her mouth, Korra sprinted out of the classroom, bypassed the security door with the app on her phone (thanks, Asami), and ran out into the school grounds separating the main building and the school gate.

 _Curse the landscaping. The gate is miles away!_ Korra gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes over the rain splattering her face. Spotting the closed schoolgate and the security guard jogging over her, she grabbed the tall wall and the stone lion mascot’s head. She was about to swing her legs over and slide down the lion, but the various spikes and protusions adhered her from doing so. Korra recalculated her route down the stone lion, when the shout from the guard forced her to more drastic measures.

 _Okay, abort common sense, switch to Korra-mode._ She closed her eyes, braced herself, then dropped down the slippery pavement with a clumsy roll. She felt a rock jabbing at the back of her knee, but she ignored it, brushed the dirt off her coat, then ran as fast as she could towards the engineering building. _Oh my gosh, ‘Sami, what happened? I’m coming as fast as I can, okay? Please be safe, please be safe, please be safe!_

            Instead of the image of Asami being propped up on the side of the building shivering in the cold rain, presumably late for class, and an angry expression in her green eyes that Korra conjured in her mind, she was greeted with a prone Asami in a muddy puddle beneath the ‘Engineering Tree’, a small stream of red flowing from her hand to a nearby gutter.

            “ASAMI!” Korra shouted and ran over to her friend, collecting her in her amrs and placing the coat over her head. She was relieved when she saw her friend’s lips move, but it was unillegible over the sound of the raging storm.

            “Shhh ‘Sami, you’re okay now, I’ll get you to the nurses’, okay?” Korra reassured her while scooping Asami up in a bridal carry. It was commonly easy because of her strength and Asami’s lithe frame, but for some reason Asami weighs like a truck. Korra shook the thought off her head, and trudged on towards her Aunt Kya’s clinic, since the school is no longer an option. In her arms, her injured friend was mewling softly, her pale hand reached up to touch Korra’s face. The tanned girl’s face turned beetroot red, and she hoped the rain and the smudges on her face can cover that.

            “You’re hurt, Kor.” Asami wheezed. Even when she was injured, she still put herself before her friends.

            “Oh really? I don’t feel a thing! I feel great!” Korra shouted, and managed a smile to reassure her friend. Asami, being her friend for almost 8 years now knows when Korra is lying.

            “It’s your leg, Korra. And don’t lie about not feeling anything. It’s gushing like it’s on its period.”

            “Gross, Asami! I thought you’re supposed to be hurt?” Korra said through clenched teeth.  After a tremendous amount of effort, she reached the front of Kya’s clinic, placed Asami’s cold body on the seats, while slumping into one herself. She waved lamely at the receptionist.

            Moments later, her aunt burst though her examination doors, her long, white coat billowing out behind her. “H-h-ey, Aunt K!” Korra stuttered out, an arm draped protectively around her friend, and her leg propped up on the seat, smearing it with blood.

            “What have you got into this time, Korra!” Kya signaled for her nurses to lift Asami into a stretcher, and she squatted down beside her stubborn niece, inspecting her torn leg.

            “I was in class this time, Aunt K! It was Asami who was on a tree this time!” Korra whined with a huge pout, then wince when Kya touched her leg with gloved hands.

            “And you somehow wound up getting wounded.” Kya smiled, reaching a hand to help Korra up. Her niece let out a painful groan at her aunt’s lame humour, which really runs in the family. “How’s Asami?” She asked as she hobbled at Kya’s side.

            “Relax, my sweet little niece. Your girlfriend should be fine. _I’m_ treating her, after all.” Kya smirked while leading Korra to a black examination bed, taking out some antiseptics and cotton buds.

            “For the last time, Auntie, she’s _not_ my girlfriend!” Korra roared to her laughing Aunt, which silenced her with a cotton bud to her wound. Kya shook her head at Korra’s deep wound, which showed a little bone peeking from her torn skin.

           “Oh really? With how you two are staring at each other, I’m surprised that I didn’t have a grandniece by now.”

            “Really? Conception between two girls? And you call yourself a doctor.”

            “So you do admit that you want to… _jump her bones_?”

            Korra let out a long and tortured groan, while throwing a pillow at her annoying aunt. “I’m going to sue you with misconduct of practice on day, torturing your patients like that! And also, with how Lin is finally using her facial muscles, I’m surprised that I’m not getting cousins yet.”

            Kya glared pointedly at her laughing niece, while putting the finishing touches on the bandages. “There. I’m going to see Asami now.”

            “Really? I’m coming!” Korra leaped from the bed, but collapsed on the floor when she put her weight on her injured foot.

            “Still not your girlfriend?” Kya smirked, handing Korra some crutches. “At this rate, you’re going to be head over heels and into a wheelchair.” Her niece rolled her eyes, limped to Asami’s room next door to reveal a sleeping Asami, and their friends behind her.

            “Mako! Bolin! Opal!” Korra shouted, hobbling towards them as fast as she could. The three friends rushed over to Korra before she hurts herself more. “Calm down, champ. We got here as fast as we could when both of you went missing after maths.” Opal explained.

            “How did you know we are here?” Korra asked while being lead to a chair beside Asami.

            “When you get missing, you’ll probably be in bed or something, with Asami, we will go to the engineering building. With _both_ of you, however…” Mako shrugged. Bless Mako and his analytical brain.

            “Anyway, we’re here to make sure both of you are okay. Miss Izumi probably hired assassins after the stunt you pulled during maths, so you should probably buck up on your life insurance.” Bolin joked, trying to make light of the situation.

            Korra sighed. “I know, but with how Asami was calling me, I just got to rush over, and I found her like…. _This.”_ She gestured to Asami’s sleeping form.

            “Don’t worry, Korra. She’s a fighter, and we’ll always be there for her.” Opal soothed Korra with her hands on her shoulders.

            “Yeah! I’ll beat up whoever that caused it!” Bolin chimed in, flexing his muscles.

            “Must be Tahno. I’m sure of it.” Korra gritted her teeth, while Mako tried to calm them down.

            Unbeknownst to them, Asami was listening to their exchange. She was lucky her face was away from them, or they would spot a stray tear flowing down her cheek, which she cautiously wiped away with a thumb. She couldn’t believe that there will be people there backing her, especially the shit with Tahno. And Korra, her best friend that got hurt helping her, Mako the ever anal-retentive guy skipping class to visit her, Bolin and Opal missing out on Phys Ed to join them? Asami never thought that she would meet such wonderful people. Before she fell asleep out of exhaustion and pain, she felt something soft ghosting over her cheek, and a whispered farewell.

*********************************************************************************************************

            “I do.” Asami muttered, the bad memories from this place starting to invade her mind. Korra pressed a chaste kiss on her cheek. “I know you didn’t have the best time here, but remember that there are people here supporting and loving you.”

            Tahno mysteriously vanished for a couple of weeks after that incident, only to come back with his fringe shaved off. He made a grudging apology to Asami too. The football team had their gear thrown into the dumpster as well, and Korra was suspended for a month because of her running out of class, ‘treating a teacher with an inappropriate manner’, and ‘vandalism’.

            Asami gazed fondly upon Korra. Sure, her girlfriend is brash and impulsive, but she always made sure the best for Asami, even though Korra would get hurt in the process.

 “I love you,” Asami muttered in Korra’s ear, as they stepped in the ballroom. The celebrations were in full swing that night. A sparkling chandelier headlined the centre of the huge ballroom, various pieces of crystals hanging off it and refracting the bright yellow lights, giving the ballroom a warm and posh ambience, also highlighting the various Victorian-era paintings hung on the wall. Korra chuckled. No wonder the school prohibited entry in the ballroom, the paintings here must’ve cost as much a student’s tuition. Nevertheless, Korra, of course, snuck into the ballroom late one night when she was on an overnight seminar in the school. She spent the whole night making up stories for the people depicted in the quaint paintings, and was escorted out by a furious security guard when she snorted too loudly at a group of well-dressed men admiring a potted fern.

 She narrated this story to Asami under their apple tree years after the incident, which lead to Asami’s endlessly teasing her about ferns and men. She looked around for the painting amidst the bustling festivities and chattering, then spotted it at the far corner of the room. She patted Asami’s arm to notify her.

“There!” She stuck an arm out enthusiastically, knocking down a server’s tray in the process. Korra covered her mouth as the no doubt expensive champagne splashed out of the metal tray, the thin crystal flutes shattering on the floor. The champagne crashed into the sparkly dress of an unfortunate woman, who shrieked as the golden liquid made a spot at an unfortunate location near her thighs.

“W-what the hell! This is expensive!” the woman, sporting a painfully fake tan and makeup so heavy it’s a wonder her face isn’t weighed down by it, shouted at the poor server. Her companion, dressed in a dashing three-piece suit, grabbed the server by his starchy collar.

“You better apologize, _boy_. That dress costs more than your pay!” he sneered at the shivering server. _Wait. That voice…_ Korra left Asami’s side, who is trembling with the effort to not laugh, and pulled the server away from the bullying man. She threw a quick wink to the server, who bowed and hurried away, while the tanned woman moved to acknowledge the enraged man.

“Tahno.”

            The crowd near them went silent suddenly, sending a wave throughout the entire ballroom, making the originally joyous atmosphere deathly quiet as the old enemies engage in a stare down. Tahno was dressed stylishly as ever, with the permanent sleazy look on his face that annoyed the hell out of Korra since their high school days. He flipped his long fringe back to his head, then placed an arrogant hand to his hip.

            “Well…well, look what the cat dragged in. Korra and the _notorious_ Asami Sato.” Tahno sneered, merely throwing a half-hearted look to a seething Asami. “It’s been years since we met. Where did you get that dress from, Korra? Stole it from your boss’s wife whose house you’re cleaning?”

            “Why, you litt-“ Korra began, her fist readied by her side but she was pulled back by her girlfriend. Tahno raised his head and laughed, so did the few people behind him.

            “Let it go, Korra. Everybody is staring at us.” Asami whispered in Korra’s ear, holding her close. Indeed the crowd were. The feud between Korra and Tahno was legendary in the school, to the point where the administration has to arrange both of their timetables so they wouldn’t meet in the lunchroom and hallways, after a memorable fight between them that resulted in dented lockers and crying football players. Now, the alumni was actually anxious to see if the years have quelled their raging grudges. Apparently, it has not, and would never be.

            Korra struggled out of Asami’s grip, then jabbed a finger at the offending man’s chest. “Of course I bought it with my own money, sleazeball. The question is, how many cocks did you need to suck to afford that suit?”

            A look of anger crossed Tahno’s face for a moment, but he forced another sly grin. After years of battling Korra, there is no way he will back down now. “I could ask you the same, Korra-boy.” Korra stiffened at the old nickname. “I wonder how your precious girlfriend is doing nowadays, after falling from the tree and all. The years been good to her?” Tahno smirked, then he turned to Asami, a mock look of surprise on his face.

“Oh! The honourable Miss Sato is doing fine, of course! It was her father who _fell_ from glory, after all.”

            Asami turned away from Tahno with a dark look on her face, all the fight had left her. “THAT’S IT, YOU COCK-SUCKING PIGFUCKER!” Korra shouted, she grabbed Tahno’s collar and lifted him from the ground, but the man looks unfazed.

            “Try and hurt me, Korra. You want to join your precious girlfriend’s father in prison, do you? Maybe discuss wedding plans with your future in-law?”

            “That’s none of your goddamn business, Tahno!. At least I have a future in-law, while I bet your mom wished she’d swallowed you!” Korra gritted her teeth, her muscles shivering with rage and the man’s weight. The crowd gave a gasp at the insult, then parted to make way for another person.

            “Korra, stop! Put him down! You aren’t solving your problems here, much less like that!”

            The familiar voice made Asami turn back to the scene, where she found her ex-boyfriend trying to mediate the situation. Iroh was handsome as ever, if not even more, many years after their split. His hair is meticulously well-cut, his face chiseled in a way that made girls (and the former Asami) swoon, and his fit body filling out the dapper tailor-made suit perfectly. He placed a hand on each of their shoulders, calming them down in hushed, urgent tones. Korra puts Tahno down reluctantly and smoothed her dress out, her eyes still locked in a fiery battle of glares with the greys of Tahno’s.

            _Iroh, ever the lover of peace._ Asami shook her head, then went over to retrieve her still-fuming girlfriend. She gave a curt nod to Iroh, who returned one of his own with a slight smile. “Dykes.” Tahno muttered under his breath before turning away to leave. Asami had to restrain Korra again.

            The crowd, realizing the show is over, dispersed, leaving the couple and Iroh, who was later joined by a slim, beautiful brunette woman who was a head shorter than him.

            “Asami, Korra. It’s been a long time since we met. How have you been?” Iroh began in earnest.

            “We’re doing great, Iroh. And thank you for handling the situation back there.” Asami said, clasping her hand around Korra’s tighter. “You don’t look to bad yourself.”

            Iroh let out a hearty chuckle, his arm snaked with his companion’s slim ones. “I’ve never been better, especially after I’ve met my girlfriend, Long Kui. Honey, this is Asami and Korra, we were friends in high school.” Long Kui smiled and shook their hands.

 _Friends, huh? Looks like his girlfriend knows nothing about our history._ Asami thought and smiled to Iroh’s girlfriend, knowing that she wouldn’t blame him for not telling her. It was not an experience both of them wanted to be reminded of again. Iroh placed an arm on Asami’s shoulder.

 “If you don’t mind me saying, Asami, please know that what your father did wasn’t your fault, and it was brave of you to not follow his path.”

“Thank you,” Asami smiled, but it did not quite reach her eyes. Their respective girlfriends bristled slightly at the sight of the lingering arm on the pale girl’s shoulder. Korra cleared her throat, and the offending arm fell.

“It is nice seeing you again, and thank you for just now, it was turning really sour. We really have to go now.” Korra said, starting to whisk Asami away.

“So soon? The principal hasn’t made his speech yet!”

“Regrettably, I’m sure. But I’m afraid the evening is already ruined. Goodbye, Iroh. Long Kui.” Korra nodded respectfully at both of them before wrapping a protective arm around Asami’s waist. She held her flush to her chest and tried to walk out without arousing any attention, while trying to give Asami a reassuring gaze. The raven-haired girl has her head down and away from Korra, and a defeated look on her face.

 _Perhaps coming tonight wasn’t a good idea after all._ Korra thought sadly while descending the stone steps, her other hand signaling the valet for the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the hell.


	6. Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our favourite couple returns to their home (which is in each others' arms), and they makes the best out this world they live in.

To Korra’s credit, both of them (AND the car) arrived at their apartment unscathed. Korra wasn’t much of a driver, much less driving a stick shift of a sports car with a dejected girlfriend sitting motionless in the passenger seat. She parked the car in their garage, half-expecting Asami to exit and follow her, but the passenger door remained shut. Sighing, Korra placed the keys on a cabinet and leaned against the cold cement wall of the garage with her arms crossed.

            The stuffy garage was warm and dim, with only a single white fluorescent bulb dangling on the ceiling, its light flickering once in a while (sue Korra for not changing it). With the garage door closed, only the musty assortments of trinkets and tools accompanied Korra in her demise. The windshield of the Aventador was tinted, but she could still vaguely see Asami’s features, the tinted glass filtering little light to her pale face, making her look more downtrodden. Korra tapped the wall with a finger, the sharp sound echoing throughout the garage.

_On a scale of 1-10, rate Asami’s mood._

_A solid -14, Korra. Keep up with your girlfriend, would you?_

Korra has a rating scale for Asami should she need to cheer her up, with 6-10 being Asami’s joyous moments, 3-5 for her down moments; easily remedied by a tree climb, and 1-2 for Korra to hide in a bomb shelter and throw chocolate at Asami.

 _-14, huh? Way to go, Kor. Just bring her to the party. Eeeeverybody loves parties._ Korra scolded herself mentally. How is she going to fix this now?

The window of the car wound down with a soft whoosh. Not wasting a second, Korra rushed over to the open window as fast as her heels can carry her. She approached the window cautiously.

“Hey.” Korra greeted while kneeling down on the cold floor. She placed her arms on the window ledge, her blue eyes seeking a reply from the watery greens of Asami.

“Tonight was shit, isn’t it?” Asami finally managed out with a sad chuckle. She sniffed and wiped her nose, accidently smudging her mascara a little in the process.

_Smudged makeup!? Okay, Kor. It’s a DEFCON 1 situation now._

Korra’s hands shot to Asami’s in an instant, her tan ones cradling the smooth pale ones gently. She rubbed a thumb over Asami’s hand reassuringly, while the pale girl let her tears fall. The garage was entirely quiet now, save for Asami’s sniffing and a few cricket chirps.

“I just don’t understand it.” Asami began. “A-all that I’ve done. All that I have achieved.” She paused for a deep breath, and finally turned to Korra. “I could never escape _his_ shadow and his past.”

With that, she broke down and sobbed against Korra’s hands. “Why does he haunt me so?”

Korra opened the door as best she can with one hand. The roof of the sports car was very low and the seats inside are inclined steeply. She gently nudged her way to the seat and collected Asami to her chest, allowing her to sob against her. Korra had to hold Asami’s hands while she cried, because they tend to tremble and get cold. That’s the only small comfort Korra could offer in Asami’s current state. She pressed a kiss on the top of her head. The flickering white light danced shadows across the walls, reflecting the ghosts Asami feels inside her head.

Finally, Asami’s sobs calmed down to sniffs, and she rested her head on Korra’s broad chest, pale hands enclosed in tan ones. The two basked in the silence for a moment, but Korra pulled her girlfriend closer to her. Words are just bandages to Asami now, and it could never stem the gaping wound of her past, nor could it remedy her sadness. Korra could only help take her mind off it again and again, but something or _someone_ would trigger it again. It’s a vicious cycle, how Asami could cope with it required strong determination in her part, which was one of the many things Korra admired and loved about her.

“S-sorry, Kor,” Asami finally spoke up with a wet sniff. She lifted her head up and looked at Korra with watery green eyes rimmed with red, her lips trembling with the effort to smile. “Sorry I made us go back so soon. You haven’t met up with Bolin and Opal yet!”

            Asami felt uncomfortable wetness beneath her head, then she realized the chest of Korra’s dress was soaked in tears and snot. She apologized sheepishly again.

            “Nah… It’s fine. You know I like my stuff multipurpose.” Korra chuckled then released Asami from her arms, the latter clambering out of the car while leading Korra along with a gentle tug of her hand. The blue-eyed girl shrugged out of her dress to Asami’s wiggling eyebrows, then kicked off her expensive shoes.

            “ _Requiescat en pace_ , sucker.” Korra announced proudly as her poor feet are finally free of the million-dollar prison, the studded footwear landing neatly on a pile of spanners. Korra turned to Asami with a mirthful grin, then bowed to her girlfriend with a hand to her chest.

            “Where do you want to go now, milady?”

            “Oh my, a half-naked woman asking me out. How _am_ I going to respond?” Asami laughed while fanning her face with her fingers.

            “You could start by clothing said woman with some comfy pajamas, then join her for a cuddle in front of the TV.”

            Asami tapped a chin in mock thoughtfulness. “Hmm… I _was_ supposed to be somewhere now, but if you put it _that_ way…”

            “I don’t know about you snazzy-clothed women, but the garage is freezing my butt off.” Korra chuckled again. She placed her warm palms to Asami’s pale face and wiped the tears away with her thumbs gently.

            “Do I get to choose my mode of transport, at least?”

            “Nope!” Korra exclaimed then lifted a squealing Asami up into her strong arms easily. She nudged the door open with her side, then ran up the stairs mimicking an airplane’s whooshing sound, accompanied by Asami’s bright giggles.

*********************************************************************************************************

            Both of them were in the cushy couch (also bought impulsively by Korra) snuggling up with each other, with Asami on top of Korra, both of them wrapped in various oversized throw blankets like a human burrito. The lights of the living room was off with only the television bathing them in its blue light, and the chilly air made the atmosphere more poignant. The TV was showing some god-knows-what show that featured screaming women and cats alike, but with the volume at its minimum, Korra seemed entranced with the show, her blue eyes glued to the screen as she absent-mindedly stroked the raven hair on her chest. Asami however, was resting comfortably on her breasts, fingers twirling around Korra’s hair and ghosting over the tanned face, the steady, rhythmic heartbeat beneath her ear calming her down. Korra’s face was adorable like that, lips slightly apart and eyes wide as she tried to fathom the strange plotline of the unnamed show, and how she would gasp when the lady with the crazy hair appears in the ads. Asami would nuzzle into the crook of her neck from time to time. Spending quiet moments together like this, she would not have it any other way.

            At long last, Korra snaked her hand over to the remote control when the show started to feature the cat entirely, much to Asami’s amusement. Asami giggled when Korra changed the channel with a blush, playfully swatting her raven hair in retort. The green-eyed woman pressed a tender kiss to her lips, while murmuring words of love as she entangled her legs with Korra’s again. Korra cupped her face gently while deepening the kiss, feeling straying hands roaming to her back scratching it a little, then traveling back up to her short chocolate locks.

            _You’re just too good to be true…_

            Korra snapped her eyes open at the lyrics, while Asami separated their kiss and slumped on her chest with a little groan. Korra stroked Asami’s head with a chuckle while she cranked the volume up on the TV.

            “Come on, ‘Sami… You prooomisseeed…” Korra whined with her big blue eyes when her girlfriend buried her face and body underneath the blankets and towards the back of the plump couch. It was their tradition to dance whenever Can’t Take My Eyes Off You comes on, including an unfortunate event a few months ago when Korra’s impromptu jig sent some hotdogs flying into a fountain, and both of them being chased by several mall cops.

            “You go ahead, dear. I’ll try to vanish beneath these blankets.” Asami groaned from somewhere in the mountain of colourful sheets. Korra swatted at the general direction of Asami’s head, which was obscured under a light blue polarbear patterned blanket until a pair of green eyes popped up from underneath the fabric.

 Korra laughed and jumped up from the couch while increasing the volume again, pushing the coffee table away with her knees while doing a silly dance in front of Asami. Looking at her girlfriend’s cute expressions and antics, Asami finally gave up with a sigh and a slight smile, as she threw the blankets at Korra, covering her like a snowman.

“Hey!” Korra exclaimed, then picked the pale woman right up from the couch and twirled her around, effectively knocking over the remote control, a wine glass, and Naga’s favourite chew toy. She placed Asami down in a fit of giggles, as Asami laughed uncontrollably when Korra squatted down comically to pick up Naga’s toy. The big dog has always been rather touchy about her playthings (and that includes her two favourite humans).

They pushed the chairs and tables right up to the wall as best as they can, Asami shaking her hips in time to the song while almost flipping the sidetable and Korra doing mock lifts with two chairs while stomping her feet in a rendition of a tribal dance. When the living room is almost devoid of furniture, both of them diverged to the middle when the song was in its passionate chorus. Korra, unfortunately, tripped over a crease in the carpet but landed safely in Asami’s arms. Asami laughed at her again, while Korra joined in sheepishly.

Korra straightened her back instantly and offered her hand to Asami with a deep bow, while Asami placed her hand in hers with a hand covering her mouth. Both of them laughed again, Asami’s tinkling laughter joining Korra’s deeper chuckles.

“Oooh… Oooh! Do the Beauty and The Beast thing!” Korra suggested excitedly then placed a hand on Asami’s shoulder.

The pale woman raised an eyebrow. “Oh. So I assume that I’m the beast now?”

“Hell yeah. I was always the pretty face of this relationship anyway.” Korra said nonchalantly as she trotted gracefully in circles around the amused woman.

“Says the girl who inhaled three burgers in two minutes.”

“Who says pretty faces can’t have cheat days?”

“When the pretty face has a layer of burger grease on it, that’s when.”

“See, you were always a beast with your comebacks, Asami.”

“Oh shush and just dance, Kor.”

Both of them dissolved into laughter again, their graceful dance turned to both of them clinging to each other’s elbows and doing some old disco moves, Asami bucking and swinging her hips around while Korra did an undignified Mash Potato. Asami’s eyes would crinkle with laughter whenever she catches herself or Korra doing something silly, and her red lips will spread into a wide, unhibited grin. Aiming to do more than that, Korra sunk down to the floor and tried to glide up seductively against Asami’s body, but it turned out to look like a slug gliding along a tree branch as Asami threw herself against Korra’s chest with tears of laughter in her eyes. Korra chuckled along with her as she felt Asami’s body shaking with laughter against hers, a far cry from a few hours ago when her body was racked with sobs.

The song faded away and was replaced by Ella Fitzgerald’s crooning, the two slowing their wild dances to join their bodies together in a harmonized sway, Asami tilting her head up and laughing when Korra looked too serious. Korra stared deep into the bottle green eyes as Asami placed her arms on her muscular shoulders and Korra’s hands on Asami’s waist, swaying together a little offbeat to the song, as Korra admired how Asami’s trim waist fitted her palms perfectly, the hands on her shoulder sliding into her hair again, and the hot, sweet breath against her own nose as the taller woman closed her eyes and placed her forehead against Korra’s. Asami’s breath is intoxicating, with barely 2 inches between their noses, breathing in from the same space of air between them, their hips pressed flush against each other, the dim lights casting an ochre glow on Asami’s face, but Korra did not notice that as her closed eyes leaked some stray tears, staining Asami’s cheeks. Opening her eyes a fraction, Asami caught Korra’s upper lip gently, savouring the taste while Korra tilted her head to side and slid her tongue in, nibbling on Asami’s lower lips with her own.

Asami lost herself in the warm, comforting ocean which was Korra, drawing in strength from the strong, determined currents that symbolizes the unwavering love for Asami. Everything _is_ Korra. From the warmth of her forehead to the wetness of her hot mouth to the contact of their hips, Asami sunk further into the ocean, not wanting to break the moment because resurfacing means going back to the real world, going back to all the pain and her past.

They separated reluctantly for air, but upon looking at Korra’s watery blue eyes, Asami grabbed the back of Korra’s head and crashed their swollen lips together again, their legs inching backwards to the couch by the wall, Asami lying down on it and guiding Korra gently with her without breaking any contact. Asami snuck a hand under Korra’s shirt, not to feel her up or anything, but the feeling of Korra’s warm skin against her palms puts Korra’s presence in context, soothing Asami’s nerves as she is reminded that she was and never alone in the world.

Korra pushed her chest and face off Asami’s with her arms, who was on either side of Asami’s face, her fingers stroking the raven locks as her tears splashed uncontrollably from her eyes onto Asami’s cheek. The green-eyed woman cupped a tanned cheek with her palm, wiping another bead of tear away with her thumb.

“What’s the matter, sweetie?” Asami whispered. It was quite troubling as Korra’s eyes did not depict any hurt or anger, but frustration and disappointment.

Korra shook her head, and wiped the tears off her eyes harshly, forcing a watery grin for Asami. Their lips connected again, this time with Korra skimming her tongue gently over Asami’s. Korra has always acted as a guardian towards Asami, starting way back when they met at the age of 9, from whisking her away to tree-climbing adventures to acting as a strong support whenever Asami feels down. Asami admired that about Korra, how very little things get to her emotionally, how strong the woman is, and how deeply this woman can care about others, especially Asami, while putting her own feelings in the backburner. Asami knows that whatever happens, Korra would be right there for her.

“You’re right, Korra.” Asami breathed while Korra looked at her with an arched eyebrow. “You _are_ the Beauty of this relationship.”

Korra chuckled and sat up, then gathered Asami into her chest. “In more ways than one, I suppose.”

Asami nodded her head. The TV played a slightly more upbeat song, the thick melancholic air between them dissipating, the smog over Korra’s ocean clearing up to reveal its warm, blue depths.

The blue eyed woman was laying on the couch luxuriously, a yellow throw blanket covering her torso, her muscular arms accentuated when placed behind her head as she gazed at Asami with hooded eyes.

“Hey, you kind of look like Belle now.” Asami giggled, poking at the yellow mass on Korra’s belly. The tan woman smiled and held the offending finger and fell silent, only the music from the TV filling the room. Korra fiddled around with her fingers meekly for a moment, before she lifted her eyes to Asami’s and began.

“You’re no Beast, ‘Sami.”

“I wish I weren’t.”

Asami shook her head sadly as the music program comes to its end, the TV now showing an ad for toothpaste. She looked at Korra’s wide eyes again, and smiled at their intertwined fingers.

“Once upon a time, there’s a beautiful princess in a yellow dress, bounded eternally to the Couch of Everlasting Laziness.” Asami narrated with the beginnings of a mirthful smirk spreading on her face.

Korra lifted her head, a small grin spreading on her face until it became the signature crooked grin that Asami adored so much. Releasing her hand from Asami’s, she tied the woolen throw blanket around her chest like she would a bath towel then arranged herself into a pose on the couch with the back of her hand on her forehead.

Asami guffawed at her absurd pose. Korra’s pout was out of place for a damsel-in-distress, her glamorous “dress” barely grazed her kneecaps, and her nose still has some snot in them.

“And everyday, the _beautiful_ and dainty princess yearns for a knight in cruddy armour to rescue her from the entrapment of the evil Couch.” Korra flung herself to her chest, her hands dangling over the edge of the plump couch, with a mock look of wondering in her eyes.

“I thought it was supposed to be a shining armour.”

“Shhh Asami… A knight in shining armour never has his metal tested.” Korra hissed in a serious tone, before flinging her head back to continue her act. Raising a hanky (A coaster for the wine glass), she waved it as daintily as she can over the couch, but due to her strength, she was flapping it around instead.

*Click*

“HEY!” Korra turned to Asami with a pronounced pout on her face, her delicate hanky long forgotten on the floor. Asami, however, was clutching her stomach in laughter as the film from her polaroid camera slid out slowly. She grabbed the film before the tanned hand could, then turned away from the adorable pout to flap the film around.

“Aww…. Look at you!” Asami cooed, as the film cleared up to reveal Korra in a (quite) promiscuous pose, her eyes narrowed, her mouth curled into a silly pout with her backside sticking out under the “dress”, her hand arched over the couch to pinch the coaster between two fingers. Realizing that getting the incriminating photo back is futile, Korra sank into the evil couch and sulked with her arms crossed.

“Now I’m beginning to understand why the princess chose to stay with the couch.”

“Come on Kor… You look so cute! I wonder what Mako would say after he takes a look at this.”

“Noooo….” Korra cried, her head ducked beneath her hands as her evil girlfriend thumped the arm of the equally evil Couch. Asami was at Korra’s side a few seconds later, her arms curled around the woman.

“Now you really look like you need a knight to help you out.”

“Yeap. To save me from my girlfriend who is going to blackmail me with polaroid pics.”

Asami slapped her shoulder playfully, then snapped an impromptu picture of Korra with her hand shielding her face at the last minute.

The photo developed to reveal a shadow cast over Korra’s face, and the bright glow of an overhead lamp illuminating her hand brightly.

“And here, the princess is illuminated by a strong pure light or goodness. Could it be her knight, finally here to save her?” Asami narrated dramatically, while the camera and film in her hands was snatched away from the pouting princess.

“Say cheese.”

The produced film was very, _very_ unsatisfactory. Asami has her eyes half closed to show only the whites of her eyes, her finger is crooked in front of her and her moving mouth was a blur in the photo.

“HAH!” Korra roared while thumping the carpeted floor with her fist, while her girlfriend tried to seize the film from her.

“And so a brave knight, in all her _splendor_ , set out on a search for the beautiful, magnificent, foxy, sexy--oh I can go on—princess, to relieve her from her prison.” Korra managed out amidst her laughter and Asami’s deep blush.

“Oh yeah. And the knight, with her mighty steed, set out in search for the fabled princess.” Asami finished, then lifted Korra up in her arms. “OH BOY YOU’RE HEAVY.” She gasped.

“That’s not the way to talk to a princess! And besides, how could your spaghettis compare to my guns anyway.” Korra grinned while she flexed her generous biceps in front of Asami, who nearly dropped her from her arms.

“I’ll have you know I’ve climbed trees five times taller than you.”

“Hmm. Climbing trees. Is that included in training for knighthood?”

“No, you taught me that.”

“What?! Me? A princess like me never wanders out to do such brash things.”

Asami snorted while she carried Korra to the garage door, pushing it open with her butt the best she can while Korra slung her arms around her knight’s neck.

“There, your mighty steed, dearest princess.” Asami sniggered but not unkindly, as she heaved Korra onto the ridiculous hotdog balloon purchased earlier today. Korra landed on the slightly deflated rubber with a thump, then struggled to regain her balance as the spongy surface rocked with her erratic motions.

“Whoa…Whoa! This is no steed!” Korra cried, but Asami took the camera and clicked the shutter.

“And here we see the princess being hauled onto her steed, the mighty Hotus Dogus, the fastest in the whole kingdom!” Asami snickered while waving the film in front of Korra’s face.

“This horse is slightly… unenthusiastic, to say the least.” Korra commented as the balloon started to deflate slowly under her weight that punctured the side of the rubber sausage. Asami snapped a picture again, much to Korra’s chagrin.

“The princess’ horse, with a mighty whoosh of air, flew up into the skies beyond!” Asami said excitedly while tossing the camera to a bewildered Korra, who caught it neatly with a hand while adjusting her ‘dress’ back up to her chest.

Korra watched as Asami wiped her face and fumbled around her tool cupboard (to say it’s a cupboard is an understatement, though), finally pulling out a large blue container with wheels, its castors squeaking on the cement floor as Asami rolled it over to Korra. Putting on her work gloves, she waggled her fingers before opening the lid of the container, like a child unwrapping her Christmas present. Fumes are released out of the container the instant it was opened, curling around Asami’s legs like a mystical fog, made even more so under the glow of the orange light.

“Whoa ‘Sami baby. What’s that?”

“Nitrogen Trifluoride.” Asami replied simply, as she placed huge chunks of white solids on the ground, which gave off the white fumes quickly.

“WHAT! THAT SOUNDS DANGEROUS OH GOD WE’RE SO GONNA-“

“I’m joking. Korra. Please.” Asami deadpanned, then held a chunk near Korra’s foot.

“Whoa, mother! It's cold! Dry ice?”

“Yeap!” Asami said gleefully before depositing it on the floor. Soon, the garage was filled with white fumes, and Korra swore they were frosts on the car window.

“This looks like something out of those fairytales. Well, except for the car.” Korra said as she snapped some pictures of the foggy garage and Asami doing a small twirl around the chemical haze.

“Why I hadn’t thought of this sooner?”Asami interjected while pulling Korra up from her perch on the rubber hotdog. Both of them joined in a passionate kiss again, while Korra snapped a polaroid of them discreetly. The shutter sound caused Asami to pull away and slap Korra’s shoulder playfully, gazing deeply in her now cheerful blue eyes, her hands beginning to snake around Korra’s waist, causing the blanket around Korra to loosen.

“Hey, I thought you’re supposed to rescue me _first_ before doing that.” Korra pouted and batted Asami’s hands away, tightening the blanket around her again. She lost some of her motor skills in the cold fog and the proximity of her lover, so she tied it like a toga instead, which led to Asami’s arched eyebrow.

“Oh? The princess has a change of wardrobe now?”

“Sure did. She’s in the Mechanical Wonderland of Nerds now, after the mishap of her gassy steed.”

“And here I thought you loved that horrendous rubber thing.” Asami muttered under her breath, but Korra skipped away before catching anything that she said.

*********************************************************************************************************

            _A few hours later in the garage, about 4 in the morning_

“Korra dear, you do realize I need to go to the factory tomorrow, right?”

            “Mmhm…” Korra muttered hazily.

            Both women are propped up against a Jeep which was draped in cloth, as it was the only surface that wasn’t covered in liquid, foam, grease, bolts, and various stuff from the ‘Korra’ pile. The princess’ “magnificent yellow dress” was now on Asami--the knight in cruddy armour-- instead of Korra, who was nestled comfortably under Asami’s neck while somehow managing to wrap her warm body around Asami’s cold one. Polaroids are scattered around the floor surrounding them like a colourful lake around their island, each film symbolizing their time together, their smiles and kisses forever immortalized in the films. God knows how many films they went through, because the camera was next to them, no longer functioning.

            The light on top of the car is still flickering, its yellow lights dancing over Korra’s face and also highlighting the mess they made in the garage. It was really quite around them, and Korra starts snoring on Asami’s shoulder. She smiled indulgently at her cute face, as Korra sleeping was one of the few times she looks at ease without a furrow in her brow and an indignant look in her face. Asami wraps her arms around her protectively. Korra may be her princess, but she _is_ her knight after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hate stories in parts as much as the next person, and I promise I'll refrain from writing like this in the future. Truthfully, this chapter was difficult for me to write, both because it digs up some demons, especially when I started writing about the reason Korra cries during their private dance [It's redacted now, sorry for that :( ] 
> 
> Like it or dislike it? Comment anyway! :DDD
> 
> EDITED: The previous chapter where Iroh's girlfriend is written as wife in the next sentence. (wtf, right?)


	7. (largely) [unfinished]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small blurb of a chapter to get the ball rollin' after months of neglecting this work. Not sure if I could continue (and edit) this in a few months, but I will. Eventually :)

            Your eyes have been stealing glances at the minute hand of your clock on your table for the past 5 minutes as you stand in front of the multitude of whiteboards trying to preach to a hall full of either asleep or over-caffeinated students. As you turn around to face the board, the poor soul sitting at the corner of the hall slumps his head on the table mercifully, as if feigning interest during the lecture would please you somehow. You chuckle to yourself. You can’t blame them anyway, as you were in their position years ago.

            The clock must be playing tricks on you, since its tiny metal hands hasn’t moved a bit after your lengthy explanation of the Peltier effect to that one obnoxious student that always checks you out whenever you turn around. He puts down his hand with that disgusting crooked smile on his face, like it is a small victory for him to see you get flustered at his ignorant questions. _Hormonal boys_. You roll your eyes internally as the clock finally shows 3.30.

            “Okay, students. The due date for the assignment would be three weeks from now, and I want a minimum word count of 4 thousand on that essay. Hand-in by e-mail or a physical copy to my desk.”

            Your students pack their books and touts their bags as they leave the lecture hall hurriedly with little regard to your words. You don’t sweat it anyway since you’re confident lots of apologetic e-mails and notes would be sent to you the night before the deadline. You sigh, then rolled up the sleeves of your white shirt as you organized the papers on your desk. The golden afternoon rays shine in through the large windows and highlights the circling dust motes in the air near your desk, and it gave the diagrams and equations you drew on the board a gold hue, making the black ink pop on its white surface, and that is why this time of the day is your favourite. 

            “Hey, Miss Sato?”

            You look up through your glasses, but resumed shuffling the papers back into order with your hands, trying to look busy in front of that same obnoxious student which is currently standing in front of you, a hand hitched on his backpack and a palm spread on your desk, interrupting the delicate dance of the dust in the rays.

            “Yes, Mr. Tanner, how can I help you?” You deadpan, silently hoping his face would melt under your fiery stare, which you hope would be magnified by your glasses with some laws of physics you are too overwhelmed to think of right now.

            “Oh, help? I do have a _job_ which you can lend me a hand in, if you would accept.” The boy said with narrowed eyes, his hand inching closer and closer to yours on the desk. You peer down your glasses to the pen and paperweight placed on either sides of his hand, and you visualize the multitude of ways to use these tools to teach him a much less, _conventional_ physics lesson, one that could wipe that smirk off his stupid face for good.

            Instead, you arch your eyebrow at that boy.

            “I would gladly lend a hand in your other endeavors, _boy_ , should you finally learn to grow up and realize this is a university, and I’m your professor.”

            He raises both his hands and blows air through his mouth with raised eyebrows, commenting that you’re a hard woman to get. He exits as you slam the stack of paper onto your desk, and the dust motes swirl around you in a mocking twirl.

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            It is a quiet night again in the city; for you at least, from your isolated perch high up from the ground above the hustle bustle of activity below you. You are in the commercial district after all, where it is alive throughout the night with people milling around.

            But you do feel a strange sense of calmness observing the bright neon lights, the hankering of street vendors and the building-sized advertisements that adorn the district from your spot. You are lucky you brought a cushion with you, because damn the steel of the crane is cold against your butt. You adjust the cushion and wrap yourself tighter in your woolen cardigan.

The darkness, occasionally dotted with the lights of distant stars envelope you within its soothing embrace, which greatly contrasts the quaking turmoil you feel inside yourself sometimes, which leads you to doing stupid things, including climbing up tall cranes like you do now.

            You lift your head from its position leaning against the cool wall of the enclosure which is suspended from a hook on the end of the tower crane as the mood strikes. You fumble around in the pockets of your cargo pants and drew out your tin, then with shivering hands, plucked out a cigarette and a zippo from your front pocket. You place the stick in your mouth, took a breath and lighted the end of it, the cherry amber joining the illumination of the darkness with the stars.

            The whispering cold air brushes against your cheek as the hot smog rushes down your throat with every inhale, as if warming you up with an internal bonfire. You admire the smoke curling lazily out from your fingers, the cyclic motion like the prancing of dancers in the backdrop of the night and the neon city, providing company to you that you never knew you need. In truth, you like being alone, and you feel the most at ease in that, and you wonder why people do not understand that. You chuckle to yourself again as the chocolaty hot smoke runs down your throat.

            The sound of the city is muted against your ear, so silent that you can hear the crackling of your cigarette burning and the sound of your breathing even as your eyes denies bask in the amount of activity it sees in the city. But breathing isn’t what you do now, because you gasp for air whenever you try to resurface from your pain. You close your eyes and take a particularly long drag, wishing the noises in your head flows out as easily as the smoke does from your mouth.

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            It’s after a long marathon of morning classes that you could catch a break and retire home. You march down the hallway balancing your coffee tray on top of the stack of papers and your buzzing phone in other hand. You grunt as endless messages barrage your phone, causing it to vibrate like it’s trying to squirm out of your grip, and your glasses chose this moment to topple down your nose. Walking around with glasses askew isn’t the image a professor of your standing would show parading around the campus, so you tried pushing it back but you lost balance of your paper, and you gave a undignified little squeal as the papers starts to cascade down the floor.

            Students milling around you snigger unkindly at you behind their paper coffee cups and stacked books as you bend down as far as your tight pencil skirt allows you to. You try to arrange the papers based on the miniscule page numbers written on its corners, but the black ink on white paper swims in front of your eyes as you fight the blush on your cheeks and the laughter around you. Realizing that it’s futile to keep up appearances, you place your books down to the floor and scramble to grab the papers before they flutter away in the afternoon breeze. Just as your pale hand reaches out to grab a far-away sheet, a tan hand intercepted you and grabbed the paper by its corner delicately. The hand relieved itself of the paper and outstretches to help you out, and you blush again when you realize you’re just right there kneeling on the floor.

            Accepting the hand, you get pulled up surprisingly fast by the hand, and you brush yourself off before you lift your head to thank the kind soul. You stutter out a few phrases that sounds like ‘thank you’ but when you _really_ do lift your head, you are greeted by a pair of the brightest blue eyes you have ever seen. The blue eyes housed a shy look in them as the pair of tan hands passes the pile of papers to you, and a grin— _that goddamn grin_ —that melts your heart a little. The papers weigh down your arms, and your blue-eyed hero gestures to your eyes demurely, adjusts the straps of her backpack then rushes off without a word.

            You turn around in hope to catch a glimpse of her, heck, even a silhouette would do, but all you see is a mop of short chocolate hair disappearing into the afternoon crowd. You adjust the spectacles on your nose as you tried to recall the piercing blue eyes, not even caring when your spilled coffee stains your heels on the pristine marble floor.

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            You are running in a breakneck speed (like you can injure your neck more, considering the accident descending the crane yesterday night) toting your bag full of books and your jacket in the arm. The jacket carries many sentiments from its exposed stitches and gaping holes, and it lost its ability to keep its user warm, but you don’t mind because you are acclimated with the cold anyway. You clutch at the polyester material protectively as you stomp along the floor in your blue worn Toms.

_Late for class the third time this week, way to go, Korra._

Last night’s jaunt proved to be a long one, and you collapsed on your bed, effectively ignoring your alarm (as usual) the next midday so you can prepare for your class. You arranged your timetable in a way so your mornings and nights are free, but you are late all the same. As if on cue, the doors of the lecture halls opens and crowds of students starts swarming up and filling the hallways, effectively blocking your way to the classroom. You grunt and try to squeeze past two girls gossiping over a phone, muttering an apology to them as they scrutinized your outfit. You try ignoring their stares, but it does hurt you a little, even if you don’t show it. You are already spread thin, and the meagre amount of money you have simply can’t be spent on your appearances.

You see the sign to your classroom at the end of the hall. Muttering about why it must be located in such a distance, you gently push away some guys aside and nearly step on papers spread haphazardly on the floor. You try to ignore the papers and step over them, but your heart gets the better of you as you sigh and bend down to pick them up.

 _Must be some poor sod._ You think, as you arrange them in your hands and pass it to a woman still on her knees and her head bowed towards the ground.

Impatiently, you pull her up and hand the papers to her chest, but the woman lifts her head and she is far from any “poor sod” that you had pictured in your mind. Her black framed glasses are askew in front of the greenest eyes you have ever seen, with faint dark circles under them against her smooth porcelain skin that looks utterly beautiful when hit by the afternoon light. You slap yourself internally for noticing so much detail in such a short time and you try to collect yourself by gesturing at her eyes nonchalantly. The woman looks stunned, but you can’t blame her when you are so close you are practically breathing down her shirt. You walk away from her and disappear into the crowd, not without looking back and stealing a glance at her silky black hair, silently wishing that she would remember you.

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            _Screw that. Screw this. Screw everything!_ You curse as you finally make it out of the behemoth university campus and into the parking lot, leaving a faint aroma of coffee behind you, curtesy of your heels. You’re sure the old janitor would just die on the spot when he sees the coffee puddle the size of Europe on the floor. Maybe he’ll be buried in campus grounds, seeing that he spent half of his life cleaning up in the university.

            _And his ghost would blow raspberries whenever you open your mouth in lectures._

            Shaking that thought off, you release a breath that you had pent up to curb your anger, then shoved your key into the car door lock roughly, ignoring the jeers from the boys behind you commenting that they can “shove” as hard as that too. You slammed the car door shut and just banged your head on the padded steering wheel to get the stress off, but all it did was to give you a headache, but you are to fatigued and frustrated to care. You run the events of today through your mind, a lecture… deadline next Wednesday… blue eyes?... Coffee… Dropped papers… _Damn, those blue eyes again_ ….

            Your head snaps up from the steering wheel and damn near hit the roof of your car when you can’t get the blue orbs out of your head. _What the hell, Sato? It was just papers on the floor. Never thought that you were that easy._ You shake your head and try to concentrate on driving out of campus without knocking down any students (as much as you want to).


End file.
